NBA.com’s Steve Aschburner is reporting that Denver Nuggets rookie forward, Michael Porter Jr. had “another surgery” last week.
There is a lot to unpack here. First off, a second back surgery sounds awfully ominous. Porter Jr. was expected to be a top three pick in the 2018 NBA draft but began to fall down draft boards after he was forced to miss most of the 2017-18 NCAA season. On daft night, Porter J. fell all the way to Denver at 14 thanks in large part to concerns about the severity of his back injury. On the surface, a second surgery casts doubt about Porter Jr.’s ability to fully recover.
On the other hand, Aschburner’s tweet emphasizes Porter Jr.’s belief that he will not only make a full recovery, but that he also expects to play this upcoming season. The procedure being completed “last week” suggests that there have been at least a couple of days to analyze the results of that procedure and that Porter Jr’s camp believes that it was a “breakthrough.”
The phrasing “his camp believes” and “not their plan” could also hint at a potential conflict between the team’s desire to bring him along slowly and his own desire to play as quickly as possible.
The Denver Nuggets have not released a statement about the procedure and at the time of reporting and Denver Stiffs was unable to obtain confirmation from the team about the report.
