In one of the major surprises of draft night so far, Michael Porter Jr. – who was once considered a frontrunner to be the No. 1 pick of 2018 – nearly slipped out of the lottery, going to the Nuggets at No. 14.
According to Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter), Denver strongly considered selecting Zhaire Smith before deciding to roll the dice on Porter.
Word began circulating hours before the draft that Porter could slide out of the top 10 due to concerns about the long-term health of his back and hip. Many teams were said to be put off by a medical report on Porter earlier this week.
As Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders tweets, at least one team’s doctors believe that Porter will require surgery on his back, and the possibility that he’d miss most or all of his rookie season was apparently enough to scare several clubs away. According to TNT’s David Aldridge (Twitter link), the Wizards wouldn’t have taken Porter at No. 15 if Denver had passed.
Still, Porter makes for an interesting gamble for the Nuggets, who already have several core building blocks in place. He’ll join Jamal Murray, Gary Harris, and Nikola Jokic as long-term cornerstones in Denver.
His back must be a major question mark. Nevertheless, I still think the Clips should’ve taken a gamble with this kid at 13. Especially after the trade for Shai
Great pick, well worth the risk
As long as the knicks didn’t pick him I’m happy. Hid is a good player. But he’s hurt with a back injury and he’s not playing the first half of the season
Kid
Surprised Philly didn’t take him, seeing they like to take injured players and make them miss their rookie season
I thought the same thing.
Backs don’t really get better. If you have back problems, you’ll have back problems for the rest of your life. Some days will be better than other, but this kid has “D-Rose” written all over him. Can’t blame the teams for passing.
ugh are you fing kidding me? porter was available at 10? omg Fire Brett Brown today right now.
13 teams passed on him and the team that drafted him wasnt a team that paid to view his results from the specialist other teams paid for. so its probably safe to say they know more about porters health than we do
Higher lottery teams were in attendance, and it was reported they shared the Bulls physical report with every team anyway. Nuggets got the steal of the draft. This was the best player in this draft class 2 years ago and last year. This is like Embiid going 3rd when he should have went 1st except the 2014 draft didnt have nearly the depth of this draft class.
Denver screwed up– they’re going to get “stiffed”.
They had better get Barton signed.
Who would you have taken? And why pay Harris and Barton? Would have dealt Barton in an effort to dump Faried or Arthur.
I had Troy Brown to Denver. Zhaire Smith would have made sense as well. Trading back also made sense. I was surprised Porter fell so far, but it had to be for a real reason. He doesnt really fit for Denver, but it doesnt kill them to gamble here, and if he is healthy, he’ll jump their other 4s in the rotation
Milsap and Faried are both gone next year.
They also still have Chandler, Trey Lyles, Hernangomez, Arthur, and nothing really at the 3. Also, Faried is an undersized 5 that doesnt protect the rim nowadays, and his motor isnt what it once was
They need defense on the wing. I dont have an issue with the pick though
Brown and Smith would have been consensus-type picks that would help the team recover if Barton is lost. Versatile Bates-Diop fell but would be good for the team’s backbone which is a bit soft.
Spellman reminds me of Jokic– he has everything but slimness. But DEN is loaded with bigs.
To pick one– Troy Brown’s passing would help a team without a true PG.
Cannot trade Barton, FA.
definitely a steal for the Nuggets now should they get rid of Wilson Chandler?
Brilliant for Denver, the steal of the draft, in years to come we will be talking how 13 teams got it wrong & Denver outsmarted the whole NBA. This guy will be at least on the run for MVP man, what a monster pairing I can see with him & Jokic, this year he can learn behind Millsap if stays healthier than last season, & next year after an easy rookie season, get rid of Millsap that will be injured again & unleash MPJ & Jokic on the league, if they improve their guards I can see them competing man, so excited for Denver, what a bright future, happy days. Make no mistake this is the biggest STEAL in the draft for years.