Michael Porter Jr. knows he must be better for Nuggets going forward

Michael Porter Jr. signed a max contract extension with the Denver Nuggets back in September 2021. The young, sharpshooting forward showed that he had some promise after shooting just under 40% from 3-point range in the 2021 postseason without Jamal Murray on the floor, and the Nuggets front office had no choice but to offer him the max to keep him in Denver alongside Nikola Jokic.

Fast forward to 2025, after Porter scored six points in Game 7 of the Western Conference Semifinals against the Oklahoma City Thunder as the Nuggets got blown out, and that contract doesn’t look as shiny as it did almost four years ago. For reference, he is making the exact same amount of money as OKC’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who scored 35 points in Game 7, his sixth 30-point performance of the series.

“I really wanted to win. I really wanted to help the team,” Porter said after the loss.

Porter has fought through three back surgeries in his career, a shoulder sprain in this series and a broken knee brace that hampered his ability to deal with the foot drop related to the back surgeries. It’s been a rocky road, and the series against Oklahoma City was one of the rockiest stretches of his career.

The 6-foot-10 forward averaged 7.4 points per game on 32.2% shooting in seven games (25% 3-point percentage). After the season ended, he expressed a handful of frustrations he was feeling as he heads into an offseason that could potentially see him not being in Denver anymore.

“There were so many parts that were frustrating for me at the end of the day,” Porter said. “I didn’t play well this series of playoffs, and I got to figure out a way to get my body into a better place if possible and become a better player than this.”

MPJ “There were so many parts that were frustrating for me at the end of the day, I didn't play well this series of playoffs, and I got to figure out a way to get my body into a better place if possible and become a better player than this.” pic.twitter.com/kk0eaPcEr6

— Jake Shapiro (@Shapalicious) May 18, 2025

Porter said that he couldn’t even sleep through the night sometimes this postseason due to the pain caused by the shoulder sprain, which he injured in Game 2 of the first round against the LA Clippers. He had been getting injections throughout the playoffs, but was still playing through an injury that can take a month or two to recover from. Even though it wasn’t on his shooting shoulder, it still prevented him from doing many things he usually does throughout the postseason.

Even a healthy Porter hasn’t played like a max contract player for the Nuggets in the postseason recently besides the 2024 first round series against the Los Angeles Lakers. Since returning from his third back surgery at the start of the 2022 season, he has had three series in which he shot under 33% from distance, including the NBA Finals when he shot just 14%. Even against the Clippers last series, there were a few games in which he was nonexistent on the floor.

Not great for a shooting specialist making max money.

Porter has also struggled with physicality from teams in the last two postseasons, as the Thunder and Timberwolves gave him fits all over the floor in those respective series.

He is still under contract for two more seasons with Denver, making max money. Is it worth it to look into moving on from him, or will the new general manager want to run it back once again with Porter?

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