Michael Porter Jr. might’ve pushed his interesting draft night experience behind him, but questions about his health still lie ahead.
Apparently his new team isn’t in any hurry to rush him along.
The Denver Nuggets released their summer league roster on Friday and their first-round pick wasn’t on it.
That’s not surprising since there was pre-draft concern that Porter could sit his entire rookie season to nurse his back injury, which he suffered in his college debut at Mizzou. That limited him to just 3 games in his college career. Once considered a likely top-5 pick, Porter slipped all the way to the Nuggets at No. 14.
If he does take a redshirt year, it certainly wouldn’t mean the former McDonald’s All-American Game MVP is destined to be a bust.
Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons and Blake Griffin all suffered injuries that sidelined them in their first NBA seasons. Porter wouldn’t mind following their path to stardom.
While Porter was left off the summer league roster, he still has 4 months until the NBA regular season starts.
Connor O'Gara is the senior national columnist for Saturday Down South. He's a member of the Football Writers Association of America. After spending his entire life living in B1G country, he moved to the South in 2015.
