Nuggets need to take MPJ out of the starting lineup
What’s wrong with Michael Porter Jr. is the space between the ears. His shot goes clink, clank, clunk. For a guy like MPJ, who defines himself as a shooter, and a team like Denver, which needs every bucket it can scrounge from this roster, that’s a problem. But the real issue here seems to be far more serious.
The headspace of MPJ appears as unkempt as a bed full of cracker crumbs scattered in tangled sheets.
At this point, Porter is not only hazardous to the Nuggets’ success, but during a 95-94 victory Saturday against the gosh-awful Houston Rockets, MPJ tripped over his angst so awkwardly he hurt his back and left the game. Let’s hope the training staff also issued him an ice pack for his dented ego.
“I gave him a hug,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said.
I know this: What Porter needs more than a talented masseuse is a sports psychiatrist. Before he can get his faulty shooting stroke right, MPJ needs to get his mind right.
I’m in no position to predict if it will require a day, a week or more for his aching back to heal. But whenever MPJ is ready to return to the court, the Nuggets should remove him from the starting lineup and let him regain his stroke and his confidence coming off the bench.
What’s wrong with MPJ was exposed in front of everybody with eyes in Ball Arena, in a moment so cringe-worthy it not only caused many Nuggets faithful in the crowd of 16,046 to boo one of their own but wrenched the struggling, young forward’s touchy back, which made signing him to a contract extension that could be worth in excess of $200 million an iffy proposition.
Early in the first quarter, with Denver out to a 6-0 lead, Porter collected a loose ball near midcourt and dribbled down the court, with teammate Will Barton racing toward the hoop ahead of him his right flank, and guard Monte Morris filling a passing lane to MPJ’S left.
It was a three-on-zero fastbreak. Impossible for a middleschool squad to mess up. But instead of dropping an easy dime, MPJ found a way to trip over himself. He took off for a shot in the lane, and upon liftoff, looked uncertain whether he wanted to dunk the ball or flip it gently off the glass.
What happened?
“I turned my head, thinking he had dunked the basketball,” Barton said. “I turned back and the ball was off the rim.”
Porter botched the shot, which bounced once, twice off the rim and landed on the floor with the ugly splat of a wet spill before the rebound was collected by Houston center Daniel Theis. MPJ dropped his head in shame. Malone said it was bad karma for not making the pass to Barton. After putting in seven 7 minutes of work in the first quarter, he retired to the Denver locker room and did not return to the game.
When will MPJ be back? And how much will the Nuggets miss him?
“It will be tough. He’s one of our main threats offensively,” Barton said. “We count on him to score and rebound. Anytime you lose one of your main guys, it will be tough to overcome.”
The Nuggets held off the Rockets, whose record dropped to 1-8, when center Nikola Jokic made like defensive stalwart Rudy Gobert and blocked a layup by Jae’sean Tate at the buzzer.
“I just happened to be there …
I didn’t even jump,” said Jokic, the most self-effacing MVP in NBA history.
It’s early, early in this NBA season. But at this point, Joker and these Jesters are not playing like anything resembling a championship contender. In fact, these jokesters out on the floor with Jokic don’t even look like a sure thing to make the playoffs.
“It wasn’t a pretty win, let’s be honest,” said Malone, after the Nuggets recorded their fifth victory in nine games. “But for us, any win is great right now.”
The No. 1 task for Malone is to find some way to screw Porter’s head back on straight.
MPJ is a head case. The max contract extension was a gamble. And it looks foolhardy now.
The Nuggets gave him $200 million in love, and the dude freaked out.