Michael Porter Jr. has proven to be the X-factor for the Denver Nuggets. His three-point shooting skills, as well as his rebounding awareness, helped the Nuggets capture their first championship in team history this past season. He is once again a very important piece in their title pursuit entering the 2023-24 season.
Denver has set high championship aspirations for themselves entering the new year, but they will need to remain healthy in order to compete with some of the other contenders in the Western Conference. Just a couple of days into training camp, the Nuggets were hit with a scare, as Porter was seen wearing a walking boot on his left foot after spraining his ankle during practice. According to DNVR's Harrison Wind, Porter's ankle swelled up, which is why they put him in a walking boot as precaution.
The good news for the Nuggets and their fans is that this does not appear to be any serious injury for Porter, as both the sharpshooter and the team are not too concerned about the injury. By the sounds of it, the forward likely turned his ankle and nothing more.
Throughout the early portion of his career, Porter has dealt with quite a few injuries. He's gone through multiple back surgeries and has missed chunks of time during the last couple of seasons due to his ailments. Just last year, he played in a total of 62 games, a new career high for him since entering the league ahead of the 2018-19 season.
Remaining healthy and working on his body are the two main focuses for Porter entering the 2023-24 season and he recently discussed how he was finally healthy entering training camp for once.
“It was a great summer, one of my more healthier summers since I've been in the league so that's amazing,” Porter said during Media Day. “I got to enjoy it a little more instead of focusing on rehab. That was great… Overall, it was a great summer.”
Starting in all the games he played in last season, Porter averaged 17.4 points and 5.5 rebounds per game while shooting 48.7 percent from the floor and 41.4 percent from three-point range. While his offensive production dropped in the postseason, Porter made up for this by averaging 8.1 rebounds per game.
As important as Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray are to the success of the Nuggets, Porter has proven to be one of the better secondary scoring threats in the entire league. Given his size and shooting abilities, Porter is able to get to his spots with ease and he creates mismatches for both himself and everyone else on the floor for Denver.
The Nuggets are going to need Porter healthy if they are to go on another title run, which is why the team will be careful with him throughout the preseason, especially now that he is nursing an ankle injury.
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