Nuggets first-round pick Michael Porter Jr. has another back surgery

Michael Porter Jr. underwent back surgery last week, a league source confirmed to BSN Denver.

It was the second time in the last nine months that Porter went under the knife. In November, the 6-foot-11 forward had a microdiscectomy of the L3 and L4 spinal discs while at the University of Missouri. The surgery caused Porter to miss all but three games of his lone college season and contributed to him falling to 14 in the NBA Draft.

Steve Aschburner of NBA.com first reported the news of Porter’s most recent surgery.

Porter was Rivals’ top-ranked player in his high school class ahead of future Nos. 1 and 2 picks Deandre Ayton and Marvin Bagley III. He was a projected top-10 pick in the months leading up to the draft.

“I’m going to work my butt off to get to 150 percent,” Porter said shortly after Denver selected him. “Once that happens, I have no doubt in my mind that the basketball will take care of itself.”

It remains unclear if Porter will be able to play at all during the 2018-19 season. The Nuggets have stressed repeatedly since selecting Porter that they’re in no rush to get him on the floor. The team was aware that another surgery on Porter’s back was a possibility when they drafted the 20-year-old 14th overall but Porter’s most recent prognosis is exciting a source told BSN Denver.

“We’re going to to be patient,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said at Summer League about Porter. “We’re not going to rush him back, and that’s the luxury we have. We have a very good team coming back. We have a very deep team, so there’s no reason for us to say, ‘Michael’s got to play this year.’ We’re going to give him all the time and treatment he needs to get better, and hopefully he can get back and help us this year.”

Nuggets president of basketball operations Tim Connelly said on draft night that the reward of hitting on a player with his talent outweighed the risk.

“At some point, it becomes a risk-reward ratio,” Connelly said. “He’s an elite talent who without back issues we wouldn’t have had the good fortune of drafting.”