Michael Porter Jr.'s latest injury throws a wrench into Nuggets' Summer League plans

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After a redshirt season last year and months spent in the gym building up his body and game over the past 12 months, Michael Porter Jr. was set to take Summer League by storm beginning Friday in Las Vegas.

But Porter’s Nuggets’ debut will have to wait. The former 14th overall pick suffered a left knee sprain in Denver’s Wednesday night scrimmage after he landed wrong with only around 40 seconds remaining on the clock. He’s not likely to suit up at Summer League but the Nuggets don’t believe the injury is anything major and isn’t related to the two back surgeries Porter has undergone over the last few years. The 6-foot-10 forward was at practice Thursday in full workout gear with a black sleeve over his left knee.

“The best thing is it’s not anything serious so he’ll be back soon on the floor,” Nuggets Summer League coach Jordi Fernandez said. “But the most important thing is what we’ve seen so far from him and how excited we are. We’re not worried at all about it. He’s been part of this training camp he’s played, competed so we know the type of player he’ll be for us, and he’s gotten better with all the work that he’s put in. Yes, it’s unfortunate but as I said he’ll be back soon.”

Porter had been drawing rave reviews over the course of the offseason, in open gyms over the last few months and so far throughout Denver’s Summer League training camp. He was expected to be one of the top players in Las Vegas and had been building momentum towards a potential spot in the Nuggets’ rotation next season.

Without their No. 1 scoring option at Summer League, Denver will turn to several players to fill Porter’s minutes including 2017 draft-and-stash forward Vlatko Cancar, 6-foot-4 guard JaeSean Tate who played last season in Belgium and undrafted guard Terence Davis who’s been a two-way standout for the Nuggets this summer.

“When he went down I wasn’t sure if it was serious or not but thankfully they said it wasn’t that serious,” said Davis. “It’s a big hurt to us right now but I think we’ll overcome it. We have a lot of good players that play hard on this team. I think we’ll overcome it, but any time a player like him goes down you’re always like, ‘Man.’ Especially him coming off the injuries. You feel for him. He’ll come back very strong for sure.”

Porter’s injury ended Wednesday’s scrimmage on a sour note, but the Nuggets’ proceeded as scheduled with a team dinner at ViewHouse in downtown Denver that night and then went through a lighter, non-contact practice Thursday.

Wednesday’s events brought the group the Nuggets have assembled in Denver this offseason even closer.

“We’re in a good place because this group has built a good chemistry. They care about each other,” Fernandez said. “Yesterday was a sign of togetherness. We had a little optional get together after practice and everybody showed up, everybody was there. That’s really cool to see from a group like this. It’s Summer League and at this type of level of basketball you see guys with different agendas, just worried about themselves, and these kids care about each other and want to play hard as a team.”

Porter was originally planning to stay in Denver but will likely travel with the team to Las Vegas and rehab with the team doctors there. Second-round pick Bol Bol will also be with the team at Summer League which runs from July 5-15 but won’t play.

Porter is expected to be healthy for training camp in late-September which will be held in Colorado Springs at the United States Olympic Training Center.

“You feel bad because the kid’s put in a lot of work and he was excited to play,” Fernandez said. “But obviously the most important thing for him is to be ready for the NBA season.”