RealGM

eathb_au wrote:There's going to be a point where we give up on Murray becoming the second star and try to get Porter to be that option.

I don't see any problem with a contender team having three stars. But we don't have a fake problem is MPJ our 2nd or 3rd star, but thanks to Malone we have a fake problem about MPJ is he our TOP5 player (aka starter) or not.

Michael Malone didn’t shy away from the topic of Michael Porter Jr.’s defense on Sunday.

“Do your job,” Malone said. “Kawhi’s a small forward. Michael’s a small forward. If you gotta hide a guy then he shouldn’t be in the starting lineup.”

He mocked MPJ again after the Clippers game (after Kings OT loss MPJ is also the only one criticized by name, despite being our clearly 2nd best player that night). You can't hear such public statements about Harris, Barton, or Millsap which is right now really questionable starters (or starter job candidates), not Porter which is already enough good for a starter job and can be only better.

eathb_au wrote:There's going to be a point where we give up on Murray becoming the second star and try to get Porter to be that option.

Perhaps, but it will remain a Jokic-centric team. If Murray wants to be #2, he needs to play like that. If Porter wants to be #2, he's going to have to work a little harder because Murray's already established. But Porter could be the #2.

All three players are very, very different. They can work well together.
Jokic with the ball and passing and occasional low-post ups.
Murray with pick-n-rolls with Jokic and open 2s & 3s.
Porter waiting for open 3s and running towards the bucket.

I like the combination and all I want to see is consistency.

NuggetsWY wrote:All three players are very, very different. They can work well together.
Jokic with the ball and passing and occasional low-post ups.
Murray with pick-n-rolls with Jokic and open 2s & 3s.
Porter waiting for open 3s and running towards the bucket.

I like the combination and all I want to see is consistency.

Jokic said he can play with anyone and he wasn't kidding - he already looks very good with Porter (Sacramento game) and is great with Murray, that goes without saying, however Murray and Porter, I hope I'm wrong, but haven't seen too much chemistry between them/yet to be developed.

Richard Miller wrote:

NuggetsWY wrote:All three players are very, very different. They can work well together.
Jokic with the ball and passing and occasional low-post ups.
Murray with pick-n-rolls with Jokic and open 2s & 3s.
Porter waiting for open 3s and running towards the bucket.

I like the combination and all I want to see is consistency.

Jokic said he can play with anyone and he wasn't kidding - he already looks very good with Porter (Sacramento game) and is great with Murray, that goes without saying, however Murray and Porter, I hope I'm wrong, but haven't seen too much chemistry between them/yet to be developed.

I agree that's where the disconnect begins. It would be interesting to see how Porter and Murray do without Jokic, see how that dynamic works.

I am starting to wonder if MPJ in the long run is more so the answer at the 4 instead of the 3. If he bulks up just a little bit, he could be a good post defender with shot-blocking ability and weak-side help who could also cover more stretch 4s while also being a stretch 4 himself.

DaFan334 wrote:I am starting to wonder if MPJ in the long run is more so the answer at the 4 instead of the 3. If he bulks up just a little bit, he could be a good post defender with shot-blocking ability and weak-side help who could also cover more stretch 4s while also being a stretch 4 himself.

Many tall small forwards become power forwards as they get older and fill out and learn how to use their body. Gallinari is just one example. I think you are right though I don't expect it to happen for 3-4 years.

DaFan334 wrote:I am starting to wonder if MPJ in the long run is more so the answer at the 4 instead of the 3. If he bulks up just a little bit, he could be a good post defender with shot-blocking ability and weak-side help who could also cover more stretch 4s while also being a stretch 4 himself.

It pretty much all depends on where he has to play to maximize our team defense. If he becomes that dream come true on defense you talked about, sure, he could be the PF of the future. If he develops his perimeter D more and improves less on the interior, he should be a SF. If he can't become better than an average defender, which seems likely, we should roll with him at SF, since we then definitely need a good defender at PF to fit in between the good but limited defender Jokic and the average defender Porter.
But this is talking about the bulk of his minutes, so where he starts. Depending on lineups and need, he will definitely play a lot of PF going forward.
Offensively I don't think it matters a lot which forward position he plays.

That being said, I know where you are coming from. His shot blocking ability is definitely something to keep an eye on since it looked pretty good the first few games.

The way I see it is that playing Porter at SF creates mismatches that he wouldn't necessarily see at PF. Perhaps if he were to gain 30lbs+ I could see him at PF but I honestly feel the future at PF could be Nnaji. He seems to have good instincts that just need to be honed, already is 240lbs and looks like he has good inside/outside skill as he has post-up skills and can shoot.

Well, we've all wanted a tall, long, mobile shot blocking forward next to Jokic. Here we thought we were talking about a power forward, but it looks like maybe we got that guy as a small forward. Truthfully it doesn't matter too much. The NBA has so many picks and switches, that "positionless" has become normal.

The only difference between our forwards is who they guard on defense, the offense and responsibilities on defense including rotations and help are the same for both forwards.

See a lot of potential on MPJ but obvious he still needs a LOT of work on his defensive game

skywalker33 wrote:See a lot of potential on MPJ but obvious he still needs a LOT of work on his defensive game

Outside of late in the 2nd quarter last night I think MPJ has played good defense the last couple of games.

The issue is that Millsap cannot cover guys like Holmes and Bagley, he may have well just stood at the edge of the paint and would have done just as well defensively last night.

Green should be available soon, let's see then

I know it is early but I don't know how many people realize how well MPJ has actually been playing so far this year.

He is currently putting up 19.5 ppg on 69% TS% with 6.8 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1 steal, and 1.5 blocks a game on 29.5 mpg. He is just a about 1% behind Jokic on shooting efficiency while putting up just a hair more points per 100 possessions. Including the playoffs he has not even played a full 82 games in the NBA yet. He still has a ways to go on Defense, but those numbers are amazing for a 2nd year player.

The Rebel wrote:I know it is early but I don't know how many people realize how well MPJ has actually been playing so far this year.

He is currently putting up 19.5 ppg on 69% TS% with 6.8 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1 steal, and 1.5 blocks a game on 29.5 mpg. He is just a about 1% behind Jokic on shooting efficiency while putting up just a hair more points per 100 possessions. Including the playoffs he has not even played a full 82 games in the NBA yet. He still has a ways to go on Defense, but those numbers are amazing for a 2nd year player.

I hope the ridiculous playing time problem for such talent is over. He averages 29mpg in 4 games this season, but that will not tell you the full story. In game#1 MPJ played 29 minutes only thanks over-time, while in game#2 and game#3 Porter played just 23 minutes both. In game#4 he played 40 minutes, but Murray didn't play that day.

Malone used MPJ as a scapegoat for the team's bad defense in the playoff, but Murray played on HoF level and Grant was there, so limiting MPJ minutes under 25 didn't cost Nuggets too much. But today would be crazy to do that. Porter is our 3rd best player already last season and if the talented 22y old have problems in defense don't cut his minutes or starter status because of how his defense is going to improve if he is not playing enough and/or not playing against the opponent's best forwards?

Yea he has to play, I don't know of any player who got much better by just sitting on the bench. Even if he's to be traded he has to play or he will have little value, so there's really no excuse.

He is missing several games due to Covid tracing. Not the most professional behavior.

Sent from my GM1913 using RealGM mobile app

Manolito wrote:He is missing several games due to Covid tracing. Not the most professional behavior.

Sent from my GM1913 using RealGM mobile app

Depends on where the contact came from, if it is something like the Rockets who had a barber cut all their hair and than the barber got Coviid than it is hard to be too upset at something like that. If he was hanging out with a bunch of people being an idiot than that is a different story.

I guess MPJ is out about 7 days unless he is COVID19 positivr.

THE J0KER wrote:

Read on Twitter

I guess MPJ is out about 7 days unless he is COVID19 positivr.

Not surprising....young and stupid go together. Maybe this SHOULD be a Tank for Cade type of year.