Kiszla | 'Entering his fifth NBA season, having been physically able to splash his sweet jump shot in barely 40% of the games Denver has played since 2018, there’s a big question about Porter beyond whether his back can hold up.'
At age 24, having endured three surgeries on his back, MPJ no longer takes any doctor’s word as gospel.
He’s an artist who paints beautiful rainbow jumpers, but doesn’t show nearly as much enthusiasm for getting down and dirty to rebound or play defense. Since health concerns caused Porter to drop to the middle of the first round in 2018, he has been healthy enough to dress for 154 of 367 games played by the Nuggets.
The primary point of emphasis by Malone at training camp is defense; he insists the Nuggets must be among the NBA’s five toughest teams to score on if they want to do more than talk about being champions.