Michael Porter Jr. Injury Update: Nuggets star has back surgery; season may end, per report

Denver Nuggets in front of Michael Porter Jr. underwent surgery for his lower back, the group announced on Wednesday. While Denver lists Porter as indefinite, their rising star is expected to miss the rest of the season, per The Athletic’s Shams Charania. This is a huge blow to an already fallen Nuggets team Jamal Murray and PJ Dozier – both from torn ACLs.

Porter’s injury comes after Denver initially listed his injury as lower back pain, with head coach Michael Malone saying earlier this month Porter would be out of action for the “near future.”

This is obviously disturbing news considering Porter’s history of back problems. He missed most of his only college season at Missouri after undergoing back surgery, and in the process before enlisting, a doctor told him. Los Angeles Clippers speak that Porter “probably won’t play again.”

While Porter proved that prediction wrong, those concerns were widely shared at the time, which is why he fell all the way to the Nuggets in 14th place in the 2018 draft despite despite being one of the most talented prospects in the class. He also needed another back surgery which kept him out of his entire rookie season in NBA.

He has largely been healthy since then, but in the previous team’s victory Houston Rockets last weekend, he limped after missing a break from secession. It’s unclear exactly what happened, but he didn’t get any lift when trying to get to the belt and left the game a short time later.

While this is extremely detrimental to a Nuggets team that had hoped to land a long playoff spot this season, ensuring that Porter stays healthy in the long run is the bigger goal here, especially after when he signed a five-year, $172 million contract for the season.

Prior to the injury, Porter had had a rough start this season, averaging 9.9 points and 6.6 rebounds for 35.9% of shots from the field and 20.8% from the 3-point range in nine seasons. match. Despite his struggles, he remains a vitally important piece to Denver’s offensive action, especially in the absence of Murray. Now with both Murray and Porter, the Nuggets will rely more heavily on defending MVP Jokic to try to carry the team through the Western Conference for the rest of the season.