{"id":110280,"date":"2024-12-03T00:23:20","date_gmt":"2024-12-03T05:23:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=110280"},"modified":"2024-12-03T00:23:20","modified_gmt":"2024-12-03T05:23:20","slug":"nuggets-michael-porter-jr-reach-potential","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/12\/03\/nuggets-michael-porter-jr-reach-potential\/","title":{"rendered":"Will Nuggets Gunslinger Be Able To Reach Potential?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Denver Nuggets forward <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/p\/portemi01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Michael Porter Jr.<\/a>\u2019s jumper universally recognized as an elite. In fact, he\u2019s tied for third in franchise history in career three-point percentage (.410). He ranks fifth in franchise history in made threes (697) despite playing just 286 games.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">3+ minutes of MPJ buckets.<br \/>\nI always feel like every clean look he gets is going in. <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/PwgtoQrcyD\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/PwgtoQrcyD<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Adam Mares (@Adam_Mares) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Adam_Mares\/status\/1860921161619505163?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">November 25, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>However, he\u2019s slowly become more than a shooter offensively, growing increasingly comfortable with scoring off the dribble. To that point, Porter recorded <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/stats\/players\/drives?Season=2023-24\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">over 200 drives<\/a> for the first time in his career last season. This season, he\u2019s already <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/stats\/players\/drives?Season=2024-25\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">racked up 65 drives<\/a>, putting him on pace to finish with 296.<\/p>\n<p>Porter was already making strides as a defender. He\u2019s become more of a playmaker as of late as well. However, there weren\u2019t many who saw him becoming more than a three-point specialist with regard to his scoring ability. So there are now even more questions about what his ceiling is.<\/p>\n<h2>Will Nuggets Gunslinger Michael Porter Jr. Be Able To Reach Potential?<\/h2>\n<p>In an engaging interview with Bennett Durando of The Denver Post, Porter discussed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2024\/12\/01\/michael-porter-jr-nuggets-surgeries-workouts-stats\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">his drive to be great<\/a> and whether he can reach his potential after three back surgeries.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe same drive that propelled me before injuries to be the best in the world is the same drive that now enables me to even be on the court post-surgeries,\u201d Porter says. \u201cI don\u2019t know if my ceiling is quite as high after the injuries and everything, but I think that I have the drive. Like, a one-of-one drive. It\u2019s what propelled me to be the No. 1 (recruit) in the world at one point.<\/p>\n<p>\u2026 If I didn\u2019t have that drive, I would not be playing most of the games. I would not probably be playing in the NBA.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>Health Is Wealth<\/h3>\n<p>Prior to <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2018\/05\/13\/michael-porter-jr-draft-profile\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">the back injury he sustained<\/a> while at Missouri, Porter was a true wing.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">What if MPJ didn\u2019t have 3 back surgeries?!<\/p>\n<p><a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Z5FazRDtbv\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/Z5FazRDtbv<\/a> <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/jHC0jjmuft\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/jHC0jjmuft<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 SportShorts (@den_shorts) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/den_shorts\/status\/1765837182894330184?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 7, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>He still ate above the rim, crashing the boards and catching lobs. However, he had more wiggle off-the-dribble than he does these days. In fact, Porter\u2019s gait has often been described as stiff and upright.<\/p>\n<p>After multiple back surgeries, that\u2019s to be expected. Nonetheless, the Seattle native works on \u201chip mobility and core stability.\u201d He\u2019s also \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/sports\/nba\/nuggets\/2024\/05\/16\/michael-porter-jr-nuggets-nba-playoffs-performance-brothers\/73662763007\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">been healed of chronic back pain<\/a>,\u201d per USA TODAY reporter Josh Peter. To Porter, the issue with his mobility is the brace he\u2019s been wearing since he came into the league.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Porter wears the drop foot brace every game and has for the last several years.<\/p>\n<p>On the left is from a game in November. On the right is a similar brace to the one he wears. <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/xhGoVLYKEo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/xhGoVLYKEo<\/a> <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/yKPxdTI8p4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/yKPxdTI8p4<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Harrison Wind (@HarrisonWind) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/HarrisonWind\/status\/1746998248865214940?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">January 15, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m trying to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2023\/04\/02\/michael-porter-jr-nuggets-more-than-jump-shooter\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">figure out my brace situation<\/a> because I\u2019m pretty stuck in certain regards with the brace that I wear,\u201d he tells former The Denver Post reporter Mike Singer. \u201cI feel like if I can get a different brace that lets me move my foot a little more, I\u2019ll be able to move in more directions, be a little bit more creative instead of so like, shoot or straight line drive. That\u2019s what I\u2019m missing now compared to high school is I could move in so many different ways and create something out of nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In a separate story with Singer, it was revealed that Porter wears the brace because of a complication from his back surgeries. He developed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2019\/05\/26\/nuggets-rookie-michael-porter-jr-health\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">a condition called drop foot<\/a>, which makes it \u201cdifficult to lift the front part of one\u2019s foot, causing it to drag.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>If Porter wants to reach his potential, his health is still his biggest obstacle. However, there\u2019s a chance his drop foot condition eventually improves, especially as his back issues have. If it doesn\u2019t, he\u2019ll have to wait for a cutting-edge advancement in orthotics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Denver Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr.\u2019s jumper universally recognized as an elite. In fact, he\u2019s tied for third in franchise history in career three-point percentage (.410). He ranks fifth in franchise history in made threes (697) despite playing just 286 games. 3+ minutes of MPJ buckets. I always feel like every clean look he gets [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":110388,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[20,1608,62],"tags":[1223],"class_list":["post-110280","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nuggets","category-basketball","category-nba","tag-michael-porter-jr"],"modified_by":"Quenton S Albertie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110280","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=110280"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110280\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":110390,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110280\/revisions\/110390"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/110388"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110280"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=110280"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=110280"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}