If the Denver Nuggets are going to return to the NBA Finals next season, they don’t have much margin for error. Nikola Jokic has to keep playing like an MVP, younger players like Peyton Watson and Christian Braun must step up and thrive in their new roles, and Denver needs a big season from Michael Porter Jr.
Porter Jr. knows that pressure is out there and feels it, something he talked about on the Ringer NBA Podcast.
“I would play basketball, you know, before my injuries. You know, now it’s a little different, like it sometimes feels like a job, but I love basketball so much. I would have played this game for free as long as I could eat. I loved it. So like, the money—that was never my goal. My goal was to be like, take this as far as I could take it, be as good as I could be.
“So man, the money almost honestly sometimes makes it a little bit harder to enjoy the game because with a max contract comes a lot of expectations on consistency, on you’re supposed to be an All-Star, you’re supposed to be this, that, whatever they say.”
Anyone who has had their hobby or passion become their job will tell you it hits different, the pressure and expectations change the vibe. That said, nobody has any sympathy for Porter Jr. on this front.
Porter Jr. is a quality player, averaging 16.7 points and 7 rebounds a game last season, hitting 39.7% from 3 and some switchable (if not outstanding) defense. The Nuggets offense hits its highest gear when he is hitting 3s, particularly in transition. He’s also going to make $39.5 million this season and has three years, $115 million remaining on his contract.
In the second apron CBA world we now live in, a player taking up 25% of the salary cap (as Porter Jr. is) must perform at an All-Star level or higher. Teams cannot easily carry three max players and the Nuggets have three with Jokic, Jamal Murry (who has yet to finalize his extension but is expected to get one) and Porter Jr. Combining those three contracts with ownership’s desire to stay out of the second apron, things happen like Kentavious Caldwell-Pope being allowed to walk as a free agent.
Porter Jr. kind of falls into the same space Zach LaVine and Brandon Ingram have found themselves — outstanding players who bring important skills to the table, but are not seen in front offices as worth the contracts they are on (or, with Ingram, want to sign next). That’s where the real pressure comes in, the Nuggets need Porter Jr. to be worthy of that contract if they are going to get Jokic another ring. He is going to have to be part of what fills the space left by KCP. How he handles that pressure and if he can live up to that standard will say a lot about the upcoming season in Denver.