Revisiting the Michael Porter Jr. Trade

On the Michael Porter Jr. trade, how the Nuggets can still maximize the flexibility gained from it, and the likelihood of the Nets flipping him this season.

One year ago, we got our first report that Michael Porter Jr.’s future in Denver may be nearing an end. They were reportedly interested in acquiring Zach LaVine from the Bulls, which likely would’ve required Porter Jr. heading out.

One year ago was also the launch of Third Apron and a post in defense of Porter Jr. It felt that if he were to get traded, the team getting him was buying low on a great starter. The best version of him could fit on so many teams.

The discourse on Porter Jr. soured in recent years because of his contract. He never provided max-level production, and it was unrealistic that he’d deliver on that in Denver. That ultimately ended his tenure there. And justifiably so, a championship contender can’t have its highest-paid players factor out the deeper they go in the playoffs.

But the Nuggets needed to make changes to extend their window. They were projected to be a deep taxpayer if they kept the roster intact. Extensions for their young players would push them deep into the second apron. They had all but one first-round pick to trade, severely limiting their options to upgrade the roster.

They weren’t going to trade Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, or Aaron Gordon, so Porter Jr. was the odd man out. No matter what the trade was, the Nuggets would be selling low on Porter Jr., especially with him coming off a playoff run hampered by a shoulder injury.

We are now at the six-month anniversary of the Nuggets agreeing to trade Michael Porter Jr. and an unprotected 2032 first-round pick to the Nets for Cameron Johnson. So far, it looks like a resounding heist by the Nets with an increasing likelihood of Porter Jr. making his first All-Star game.

Porter Jr. is averaging a career-high 25.8 points per game on 62.9 percent true shooting. He’s also shooting 41 percent from three on a whopping 9.2 attempts per game. Most importantly, he’s leading the Nets to a surprising amount of wins this season. In December, they won 7 of 11 games and had the league’s best 105.4 defensive rating. He’s blown past the optimistic outlook from Third Apron last year.

The Nuggets’ rationale and how they can still maximize the trade

Cameron Johnson hasn’t been the upgrade over Porter Jr. that many expected. He started coming along toward the end of December before getting shut down with a knee injury. He should and likely will improve, but acquiring Johnson wasn’t a bet that he’d be better than Porter Jr. It was, first and foremost, a salary dump.

Ultimately, Johnson at $21 million as a third or fourth option makes more sense on their payroll structure than Porter Jr. at $40 million. Whether it was this season or the next, the Nuggets were poised to trade him so they could budget a deeper roster. This was necessary to maximize the remainder of Jokic’s prime.

The trade, which was possible thanks to Brooklyn’s $60 million in cap space, reduced Denver’s payroll by $17.3 million. This resulted in them not only getting below the $207.8 million second apron, but the $195.9 million first apron as well. This opened up more team-building possibilities, such as using expanded trade exceptions or the $14.1 million non-taxpayer mid-level exception.

The immediate benefit of their savings was being able to finally get Jokic a real backup center in Jonas Valanciunas. Instead of paying Porter Jr. $38 million, they’re paying Johnson and Valanciunas a combined $31.4 million. And they still have room for improvement since they’re $14.7 million below the second apron. If they choose, they could use their $6.9 and $5.4 million trade exceptions while remaining below that threshold.

The other, more significant benefit is that it allowed them to extend Christian Braun. They gave him a five-year, $150 million rookie-scale extension starting at $21.6 million for 2026-27. Had they not made this Porter Jr. trade, perhaps they’d have taken Braun to restricted free agency.

They also, in theory, gained more flexibility to extend Peyton Watson. He will enter restricted free agency after they couldn’t come to terms on an agreement ahead of the regular season.