Future Watch: Michael Porter Jr. Basketball Cards, Denver Nuggets – Michael Porter Jr. dropped to the end of the lottery in the 2018 NBA Draft, notwithstanding being pegged as a top five prospect in a deep class. This was the result of a back injury that kept him out for most of his only season at Missouri.
Prior to this setback, it had all been smooth sailing for the sweet-shooting 6’10” small forward from Columbia, MO – including state championships in his final two high school seasons, the co-MVP and championship in the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League and the chance to be coached in his senior campaign by longtime NBA star Brandon Roy.
Denver’s success in buying low in the NBA Draft is unmatched in the last decade and they did not have any huge, pressing needs in the summer of 2018, so they were pleased to select Porter and willing to be patient with him. This necessitated sitting Porter out in his rookie season as he went through his second back surgery and learned to battle the effects of drop foot. While Porter would be brought around slowly for most of his first season on the court, his debut on Halloween, 2019 immediately foreshadowed his later production: 15 points and four rebounds in 20:52 minutes of playing time.
Nonetheless, Porter would not crack 20 minutes of play again for two months in a season that saw the Nuggets
largely keeping him under wraps, but he did manage five double-doubles in points and rebounds in the second half of January, 2020 alone. Inside the Orlando bubble, Porter was a gigantic revelation, as his first three games with 37, 30 and 27 points marked the three highest-scoring efforts of his young career.
The breakthrough in the Magic Kingdom carried over to this season, as Porter has received consistency with his minutes and repaid it with consistency in scoring, with an ongoing streak of 36 consecutive games in double figures en route to an average of 18.8 points per game – slightly more than double last season. This improvement is powered by a slight increase in three point percentage (from .422 to .441), made all the more impressive by the fact that he has more than doubled his attempts. Additionally, his 7.6 rebounds per game are elite for the small forward position.
When superstar point guard Jamal Murray went down for the season on April 12th, it appeared that championship hopes for the Nuggets went down with him. But with Porter continuing to make great strides in both his development and his chemistry with franchise player Nikola Jokic, clearly it’s too soon to put a ceiling on the possibilities for the Mile High team.
Collectors who picked up his rookies in 2018-19 now have cards from late season 2020-21 products to release, including:
- 2020-21 Donruss Optic NBA Basketball Cards
- 2020-21 Panini NOIR NBA Basketball Cards
- 2020-21 Panini National Treasures NBA Basketball Cards
2020-21 Panini NBA Basketball Cards Product List
Future Watch: Michael Porter Jr. Basketball Cards, Denver Nuggets – Stats
| Season | Age | Tm | Lg | Pos | G | GS | MP | FG | FGA | FG% | 3P | 3PA | 3P% | 2P | 2PA | 2P% | eFG% | FT | FTA | FT% | ORB | DRB | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | PF | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | 20 | Did Not Play (injury—back) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2019-20 | 21 | DEN | NBA | SF | 55 | 8 | 16.4 | 3.5 | 7.0 | .509 | 1.1 | 2.7 | .422 | 2.4 | 4.3 | .564 | .590 | 1.1 | 1.3 | .833 | 1.2 | 3.5 | 4.7 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.9 | 1.8 | 9.3 |
| 2020-21 | 22 | DEN | NBA | SF | 55 | 48 | 31.7 | 7.2 | 13.3 | .542 | 2.7 | 6.1 | .440 | 4.5 | 7.2 | .628 | .643 | 1.8 | 2.3 | .776 | 1.6 | 6.0 | 7.5 | 1.1 | 0.6 | 1.0 | 1.2 | 2.1 | 18.9 |
| Career | NBA | 110 | 56 | 24.0 | 5.4 | 10.1 | .531 | 1.9 | 4.4 | .435 | 3.5 | 5.8 | .604 | .625 | 1.4 | 1.8 | .797 | 1.4 | 4.7 | 6.1 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 1.0 | 1.9 | 14.1 | |||
Future Watch: Michael Porter Jr. Basketball Cards, Denver Nuggets – Other Resources
- Michael Porter Jr. NBA.com Player Profile
- Michael Porter Jr. Basketball Cards – Secondary Market Pricing
- Beckett Card Catalog – Michael Porter Jr. Basketball Cards
Future Watch: Michael Porter Jr. Basketball Cards, Denver Nuggets – Image Gallery
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