Porter’s mile-high drop comes to end in Denver
At the start of the season, Missouri freshman forward Michael Porter Jr. was projected as the No. 1 pick in the draft.
After suffering a back injury that limited him to just three games, Porter was seen as a high lottery pick.
After the Cavaliers, picking eighth, selected Alabama point guard Collin Sexton, Porter was the darling target of the Knicks fans who crammed Barclays Center on Thursday for the NBA draft and chanted “Mike-el Port-er, Mike-el Port-er” shortly before the Knicks took Kentucky’s Kevin Knox ninth.
When the night was over, Porter was a lottery pick — but barely — as Denver, with the 14th and last lottery selection, chose the preseason national fresh- man of the year despite the lower back surgery that frightened other suitors. Porter also believed hip spasms that forced him to cancel a scheduled workout last week were costly. But he was philosophical. “It’s been a roller coaster, for sure,” Porter said. “It was crazy because I was working out for a month straight, hearing from the very top teams in the draft, and that little episode of that hip pain happened and all the top teams are a little scared. I feel like that was God and maybe he didn’t want me to go to one of those teams.” But no storyline overshadowed the plunge by Porter, who admitted growing antsy as the night wore on. And on. “I’m not going to lie to you, I was stressed out,” he said. “All that stress was overcome by joy the moment I got called, no matter what number it was.” The night began as expected with Phoenix selecting Deandre Ayton, who became the 13th international player and the ninth straight freshman selected first overall. Marvin Bagley III was next. Then the night started going nuts. The Hawks picked Luka Doncic at No. 3, the youngest EuroLeague Final Four MVP, and shipped him to Dallas, desperate for offense. The Mavericks in turn selected Oklahoma’s Trae Young at No. 5, the first player to lead the country in scoring and assists, and sent his rights and their protected (to five) 2019 first rounder to Atlanta, which later picked Maryland guard Kevin Huerter 19th. At No. 4, Memphis selected another big, 6-11 Jaren Jackson Jr. of Michigan State, whose father, Jaren Sr., played in the NBA for more than a decade. He is seen by many as the premier defensive player in the draft. Harlem-born Mohamed Bamba, the Texas center with the recordsetting 7-foot-10 wingspan, went sixth to Orlando. When Chicago took 6-10 Wendell Carter Jr. of Duke with the seventh pick, Knicks fans began rumbling. They exploded anticipating Porter after Cleveland took Alabama point guard Collin Sexton. When Knox was called, there initially were boos. Then cheers. “Honestly, I was feeling bad for if it wasn’t me, the kid that did get drafted in New York,” Porter said. Mor e trades rocked the landscape. Philadelphia took forward Mikal Bridges of Villanova, the local hero — and traded him to Phoenix for Texas Tech guard Zhaire Smith and a 2021 first-rounder acquired from Miami. Charlotte, at 11, picked Kentucky guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and sent his rights to the Clippers, who held the 12th and 13th picks. At 12, the Clips took Michigan State forward Miles Bridges, who went with two second-rounders to the Hornets for Gilgeous-Alexander. At 13, the Clips grabbed Boston College combo guard Jerome Robinson. Then came the choice of Porter. Finally.