Michael Porter Jr. undergoing surgery throws wrench in Nuggets’ future

Michael Porter Jr.’s latest injury throws a huge wrench in the Denver Nuggets’ future. 

Just a few months ago, an argument could be made that the Denver Nuggets had one of the brightest futures of any team in the Western Conference, even despite coming off an earlier-than-expected loss in the playoffs.

Now, all that is in jeopardy in large part due to unfortunate injuries.

Jamal Murray, the team’s starting point guard, is still recovering from a torn ACL that he suffered in April of last season, and now Michael Porter Jr., whom the team recently signed to a five-year max extension, is expected to miss the remainder of the season due to back surgery.

Considering MPJ’s history with back injuries, this is not exactly the news that you want to hear – for MPJ individually and certainly not for the Nuggets.

For the immediate future, this throws a huge curveball in Denver’s hopes to be contenders this season. Without a solid timeline for Murray’s return, the hope was that MPJ would be the budding star that could step in and contribute at a high level.

In part due to this injury, it’s not something that has transpired at all this season. MPJ never looked like his offensively dominant self and considering that he was secretly battling this injury, it all makes sense now.

The Nuggets are going to struggle to stay afloat in the Western Conference standings and there’s no guarantee that Murray will be able to simply fall back immediately into the level of production or level of player that he was before the injury.

There’s almost certainly going to be some rust he’ll have to work through and some working back into basketball shape.

Speaking from a long-term perspective, the hope and expectation are that MPJ is going to make a full recovery. But, especially with back injuries, you can never know for sure. Hopefully, MPJ is able to get back to the level of player he was before this recent back injury, but his history with these types of issues has to be at least somewhat concerning.

The good news is that the expectation is that MPJ is going to make a full recovery and, for the sake of the Nuggets, here’s to hoping that remains true and this team could remain a franchise with one of the brightest futures in the West.