The 2021-22 NBA season is going to be an interesting year for the Denver Nuggets.
Nuggets X Factor
They will miss the services of Jamal Murray for a good chunk of the season as the guard is still recovering from the ACL tear he suffered in April. There's no question that Nikola Jokic will double his efforts in keeping the Nuggets' head above water. He was declared league MVP last season for a good reason. However, if you've been keeping a close eye on the team, you know that this young gun named Michael Porter Jr. will not just Jokic carry the chores, but will rise up as one of the Nuggets' X-Factors.
MPJ was drafted in 2018 as the 14th overall pick. But a back injury forced him to sit out in his entire first year, which effectively made the 2019-20 NBA season his rookie year. Even before the Nuggets picked him up, they had already climbed the Western ranks as one of the elites. In the 2018-19 season, they had a 54-28 win-loss record which ranked second in the West. Not only did the team break its five-year playoff drought, but they seemed to have found their identity in Nikola Jokic.
This made MPJ's entry into the team a little awkward. If the Nuggets were either a bottomfeeder or even a mid-tier team, then he would've fit right in. But the Nuggets, as mentioned, were quickly rising as legitimate title threats. In recent memory, a player named Darko Milicic was picked second overall by the Detroit Pistons who were then one of the best teams in the league. This certainly hurt Milicic's confidence as he went on with his NBA career.
MPJ did not suffer the same fate as Milicic. It's a combination of Mike Malone's coaching talent as well as the forward's. As for one, in MPJ's first season, Malone did an interesting experiment with regard to his playing time. Malone would field him in the first and last minutes of the quarter. The aim seems to give him a feel for the game in a calculated manner. He averaged just 16.4 minutes per game, a reality that MPJ didn't necessarily like.
However, this seemingly odd experiment paid off in the 2020 NBA Playoffs. Not only was MPJ an intrinsic part of those back-to-back 3-1 comebacks, but the man showed extreme confidence despite being in the postseason for the first time in his career. He was knocking down critical 3-points left and right, swatting shots, and crashing the boards like a mad man.
MPJ proved that his postseason performance wasn't just a fluke. In the 2020-21 NBA season, he boosted his averages to 19.0 points and 7.3 rebounds per game from 9.3 points and 4.7. He was rightfully inserted into the starting lineup and played 31.3 minutes per game. He shot a stellar 54.2 percent from the field and a ridiculous 44.5 percent from deep (on 6.3 attempts per game). For all his efforts, Porter Jr. finished third in the Most Improved Player voting. He's now on the radar as an up-and-coming star.
It is this interesting narrative that makes MPJ the player to watch out for. In just two years in the league, Porter Jr. has shown us how well he's adjusted to the big leagues. This reveals a lot about his talent and also his professionalism. Also, he seems to have that clutch gene inherent in him. He will never shy away from taking the big shot. Not all players have this trait in them.
Nuggets fans might be sobbing their hearts out after that Murray injury. Yes, the guard's absence will definitely affect the team. But at the same time, MPJ will take this season as an opportunity to further boost his game. Who knows, maybe he could snag that MIP award once and for all. Maybe, just maybe, he'll be voted into an All-Star for the first time in his young career.
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