Denver Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr. is looking to take strides as he enters his second official campaign in the upcoming 2020-2021 NBA season. A crucial part of his continuous development will be his maturity towards accepting any role that the Nuggets will be easing him into, given the team's stacked roster. The Missouri product recently shed light on his teammate Will Barton's self-proclamation as a starter and how he will be handling things moving forward.
“Everybody knows Will (Barton’s) a starter,” Porter said via the Denver Post. “(Barton) saying that shouldn’t have been blown up the way it was because he has started, he has produced. That’s not immature or anything on his part. He views himself as a starter. I view myself as a starter. But we both know that if we want to be a part of something special, we gotta stick together, me and him individually.”
“And then as a team, we just gotta be willing to accept our roles. If that’s me starting, if that’s him starting, if that’s him starting instead of Gary (Harris), whatever the case may be, we gotta stick together.”
Porter finally took the floor last season after sitting out the entire 2018-2019 season due to his nagging back issues. He had a rocky start to the season but eventually gained momentum especially in the recent playoffs where he averaged norms of 11.4 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 0.8 assists through 19 games played off the bench.
Although he had no problem in delivering on the offensive end, Porter was eventually exposed as a liability on the floor during their first-round playoff encounter against the Utah Jazz where he was often switched to guard Donovan Mitchell.
Nonetheless, head coach Mike Malone believes that the swingman will be able to pick things up defensively as he continues to progress. Now healthy and having significant playing experience under his belt, he is already hoping to serve as a vital contributor for the Nuggets in the upcoming season.
Michael Porter Jr. and the rest of the team will match up against the Sacramento Kings for their season opener on Dec. 23.
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