MPJ has a nerve issue in his back that could jeopardize his season

[Antinomy]

His contract, AT BEST, was always gonna end up being neutral.

Did anyone really expect him to outplay his deal?

Denver is royally f-cked now.

Giving the MAX to a guy who was medically red flagged 2 years prior & wasn’t even worth the max to begin with was buffoonery.

A comparable guy like Mikal Bridges got less than half of what he got & is easily the superior player.

[antonac]

Nightmare season for Denver. I think they should just pull a 1997 spurs. Shut Jokic down get a top pick in the draft and go for it next season.

I was thinking this.

Murray isn't going to come back and hit the ground running, and it's not like he's a clear all-nba level player anyway. Jokic has been playing himself into the ground. The roster is a complete mess and a season trying to actually figure out who's worth keeping would be handy. They have no other avenues to improve so a high draft pick is their best shot.

It completely sucks to shut down Jokic in his prime but I can't see what else Denver can do, he'll drag this busted roster to the play offs, go out in the 1st round and be back here next season.

[tekkon]

man I feel for the kid

Back problems at such a young age for them is a bitch, I feel for him too.

[Jack Dempsey]

They should have sold high and traded him rather than offering that extension.

+1

I do think he had serious trade value a year ago. IIRC Houston was interested in MPJ when they traded Harden last season. Maybe a deal where Simmons ended up in Colorado could have been done.

[Dark Faze]

Medically retire, collect 5.3m this year, then 172m over 5 years.

Nuggets are on the hook for 177.3m over the next 6 years.

The contract they offered him just ended Jokic's contention window as I called it in the thread.

edit: Apparently the Nuggets can get MPJ's salary off their books if a team doctor and NBA doctor both agree that MPJ should be medically retired. They still owe the man his money though.

I think we're probably like 2-3 years away from him really being in "medically retire" phase. Recovery portions of this kind of thing before "giving it another go" can take a long while and I'm sure it's what MPJ will choose to do.

[OrangeBlueSkies]

Nightmare season for Denver. I think they should just pull a 1997 spurs. Shut Jokic down get a top pick in the draft and go for it next season.

this is very very bad for the Nuggets. In today's NBA, stars aren't looking to waste their prime years.

[vital_signs]

Silver lining is that Jokic's game will age well and him and Murray are still a scary duo. Small silver lining when looking at the MPJ contract though.

[CptCrunch]

Why would they still owe him money if he doesnt play? That is the entire point of a contract. He signed the deal to play basketball for the Nuggets for the next 5 seasons after this season. They owe him the money when he plays those seasons. If he doesnt play those seasons, the Nuggets dont owe him squat.

NBA contracts are fully guaranteed the moment they are signed. It doesn't matter that MPJ cannot play or does not play, he gets paid no matter what (unless he pulls a Simmons and stops cooperating with the team doctors in this case).

To be clear though, the teams dont pay for a medically retired player. Its been awhile since I read up on it, but I believe insurance companies are the ones that pay it (or at least like 90% of it) and they can just get a disabled players exception. So if MPJ retires, he wont effect their cap and insurance companies are paying him not the Nuggets.

You are just being pedantic here. MPJ gets paid. Whether insurance (if any insurance company was dumb enough to underwrite the contract) or Nuggets pays him or if he stays on the Nuggets' books (in case of medical retirement) doesn't change the fact that MPJ gets every cent of his money.

[Clyde Frazier]

Was kinda baffled by how quick Denver was to pay him that much $ given his history. And yes I get the prospect of losing him was rough. Anyone know if there are any injury clauses in the contract? I'll have to take a look.

[PhilBlackson]

Jeopardize his season?! Try career...

It's quite obvious this is a VERY serious recurring injury and to be happening at such a young age for the length of time it's already cost him, all I can say is I wish him and the Nuggets the best of luck.

It's nothing to laugh at or mock because this really screams being the kind of reoccurring problem where even if he wanted to hang in for the money that he'll probably have to ask himself if it's worth the risk...even with Roy, Oden etc it was the knees...it's one thing to think of hobbling around with a cane, it's another to risk the ability to walk at all...everyone knows the back is no joke. Absolutely wish Porter the best but this doesn't look like it will end well whether forced medical retirement or bad recurring problems.

[Tor_Raps]

Well... there was a reason why he fell so low in the draft and it was exactly because of this. Sucks because I really liked Porter's game but the Nuggets take a huge L here for that stupid contract they gave him.

Nuggets will have a hard time paying this and going near the Luxury tax at the same time. I highly doubt any insurance company was as dumb as the Nuggets here. I can safely say that Jokers championship aspirations with the Nuggets has come to an end.

[JonFromVA]

Could just be that 10% chance of a re-occurence and another 4 months or so but up to 2 years until back to full strength mentioned in this article about his last surgery:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.sbnation.com/platform/amp/nba/2018/6/15/17362958/michael-porter-jr-nba-draft-stock-pick-back-injury-surgery

[User_friendly]

I think we need a doctor ASAP. Not to cure anyone, but to put a little sanity here.

[Lockdown504090]

Its not as bad as it sounds in a vacuum, and he will play again, but with the context of all the other injuries its very dangerous. When this heals, he needs to take at least 6 months and absolutely bulletproof his body with training. This isnt career ending if he and the nuggets handle this perfectly.

[TravisScott55]

damn

[OkcSinceSGA]

Jeopardize his season?! Try career...

It's quite obvious this is a VERY serious recurring injury and to be happening at such a young age for the length of time it's already cost him, all I can say is I wish him and the Nuggets the best of luck.

It's nothing to laugh at or mock because this really screams being the kind of reoccurring problem where even if he wanted to hang in for the money that he'll probably have to ask himself if it's worth the risk...even with Roy, Oden etc it was the knees...it's one thing to think of hobbling around with a cane, it's another to risk the ability to walk at all...everyone knows the back is no joke. Absolutely wish Porter the best but this doesn't look like it will end well whether forced medical retirement or bad recurring problems.

Had that in title first, but decided to stick with facts we know now, vs potential hyperbole that may be wrong and freak Nuggets fans. I’m rehabilitated . The old me would have made the headline way worse.

[Mickey8]

He hold the worst contract in the league, even if Denver's front office knew he was healthy , it was crazy to give superstar like contract to unproven player like him, they could have pay bunch of good role players for that money, now they are stuck with that bad contract and they re wasting Jokic's great play .

[Mickey8]

Nightmare season for Denver. I think they should just pull a 1997 spurs. Shut Jokic down get a top pick in the draft and go for it next season.

Why should they waste Jokic career , they are still play off team with him on the court, why not trade him if you want to rebuild all over again, give him the chance to win somewhere else.

[Warriorfan]

Warrior GM Meyers once said the mistake long term contracts are the ones between the MLE and Max.

There are only IMO at most 10 super star perennial MVPs at most.

[bbalnation]

Denver understood the risk.

The risk in this case was not knowing. The nerves, back, neck: these are all still unknowns.

What is known is that Denver is really cold. Which means its harder to be outside for a lot of people who enjoy warmer weather (i think that's the case for a lot of humans). There are also cities where players have family ties, or at least its closer to Denver where it's all the way out West. It's a smaller market team that struggles to attract player talent outside of the in-house players they draft or trade for (beyond clever complimentary players). The Nuggets quadrupled down on their initial draft investment, when the Clippers doctors said he was untouchable, and that situationally matters in business relationships.

Michael is a really good basketball player when he's healthy. He works hard to be healthy, physically and mentally. It's unfortunate as a basketball fan that he's going through this and that he's out this year. He hasn't been out much early in his career, relative to the expectations.

We dont know what's to come for him, especially with more: rest, investment in his body, and innovation in modern health and medicine.

Nerve damage is no joke, and it can be lifetime. I imagine he knows what he's doing, especially with what he's seen with his family. Wish him nothing but the best.