MPJ could be Durant or he could be gone

It’s time to take the bubble wrap off Michael Porter Jr. He’s the big Fabergé egg in the Nuggets’ basket. Hold your breath, and hope Porter doesn’t break.

The Nuggets aren’t ready to say this, so I’ll crank up the hype machine: When you look at the 6-foot-10 Porter effortlessly drain a jumper from beyond the 3-point arc, you can dream of Kevin Durant.

Yes, Durant has an MVP trophy, two league championships and nearly 23,000 regular-season points on his résumé, not to mention a standing reservation at the Hall of Fame, even if the 30-year-old forward never fully recovers from the Achilles injury suffered during the NBA Finals.

Am I suggesting Porter can match any of that? Nope. But the Nuggets believe Porter has Durant-like tendencies and could provide the magic that makes the first championship in franchise

history more than a pipe dream.

But it’s a fragile magic. If the rigors of this game broke Durant, it could certainly break Porter before Denver sees any of his immense potential reach fruition.

With back issues that have dogged him since his lone season at the University of Missouri, Porter slid to Denver as the 14th overall pick in the 2018 draft, then didn’t play a minute as an NBA rookie. The twist and turns of his young career have tested his resolve.

“I was patient at first, then I would get mad, then I had to be patient again,” Porter said. “It was a roller coaster. But I’m ready.”

I asked Porter if he liked roller