As the Feb. 5 NBA trade deadline approaches, one of the names that’s seemingly come up constantly in trade rumors is Brooklyn Nets wing Michael Porter Jr. The Nets are in a rebuilding situation, and Porter has been able to showcase his talent in ways he wasn’t always able to when he was playing with the Denver Nuggets. In doing so, he’s become a potential trade target for contending teams.
But even as the trade winds blow around the Nets, Michael Porter Jr. might not be a lock to be moved by the deadline, as per NBA insider Marc Stein. Stein reports that it’s increasingly possible that the Nets opt to hang on to Porter until the offseason.
Porter’s trade value has never been higher than at the present moment, but if he continues with the strong season he’s been having, there will presumably still be plenty of offers in the offseason.
The Nets originally acquired Porter last offseason in a trade that saw Cam Johnson sent to the Nuggets. Porter has had the ball in his hands more than anytime he was in Denver, and it’s resulted in the best season of his career statistically.
Porter’s appeared in a total of 29 games for the Nets, at a little over 33 minutes per game. He’s been averaging a career-high 25.9 points, 7.4 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.1 steals with splits of 49 percent shooting from the field, 39.7 percent shooting from the 3-point line and 83.3 percent shooting from the free-throw line. His rebounds and assists are also career-highs, as is his 18.7 shot attempts.
The No. 14 overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, Porter developed into one of the best catch and shoot players in the league playing off Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray. He helped the Nuggets win the 2023 NBA title. But there was a reason he was once considered the No. 1 high school player in the country, and he’s shown that this season.
