The Denver Nuggets have earned high praise for their offseason moves, and one deal might stand out above the rest.
This summer has been a wild and fun one for the Nuggets. After a late-season shakeup in the front office, the Nuggets entered the summer with a new outlook and quickly took advantage of their new situation.
Looking to add depth for another potential title run, Denver added guys such as Jonas Valanciunas and Tim Hardaway Jr. However, the Nuggets’ biggest move was likely their change in the starting five.
Denver might have made the perfect deal
In a recent article from Bleacher Report’s Grant Hughes, he chose a riser and faller for each team in the league. For Brooklyn, Hughes chose Michael Porter Jr. As the player he expects to take a step back next season, and it makes perfect sense.
In June, the Nuggets turned heads with a draft-day deal that sent Porter to Brooklyn with a future pick for Cam Johnson. While the two players’ production is similar on paper, Hughes expects Porter’s counting numbers and efficiency to drop without Nikola Jokic around.
While it’s hard to say who the better player between the two is, there is certainly a case to be made that Porter will struggle when he has to almost exclusively create for himself next season. Used to being the recipient of great passes from Jokic, Porter is typically set up to score before he even has the ball in his hands.
Now, as he enters the next chapter of his career, Porter might soon be reminiscing about the days when he had a three-time MVP swinging him the rock.