Michael Porter Jr. has seen his name in trade rumors of late and revealed after the Denver Nuggets beat the Phoenix Suns 127-90 at Ball Arena on Monday that the front office has spoken to him on the topic.
“Yeah, they have,” Porter said. “They’ve reached out to me and said it’s all noise. There’s nothing serious going on and if there was, they would let me know. And they have said they love how I’m playing and to keep being aggressive, keep playing and they have no desire to move me right now.
“But I also know they wouldn’t tell me if they wanted to move me,” Porter added. “But they have reached out, yeah.”
With the Nuggets not having the greatest of starts to this 2024-25 season, it was inevitable that some trade chatter would start and he has found himself at the center of it. Most recently, NBA insider Evan Sidery reported that the Nuggets and the Brooklyn Nets held exploratory talks on a trade featuring Porter for Cam Johnson.
Despite all that chatter in the background, Porter impressed against the Suns. The 26-year-old finished with 24 points (10-12 FG), six rebounds, and four assists in the contest while helping the Nuggets improve to 16-11 on the season.
Previously, there were some concerns that he might have checked out mentally after seeing his name in trade talks. On Sunday, Porter was benched for the fourth quarter and overtime against the New Orleans Pelicans as he was not playing well or giving much effort. He certainly put to bed all that talk with this performance here.
In this press conference, Porter also explained why none of the trade chatter affects his play on the court.
“It’s a part of the game,” Porter said. “I don’t get frustrated or I don’t take it personally. I know it’s part of the business… I’ve been blessed to be here seven years and the Nuggets took a chance on me and I’ve been blessed to win a championship here and I’ve been blessed to develop some great relationships with the coaches and the players and grown as a player.
“So, when stuff like this comes up, I don’t think I take it personally,” Porter continued. “… You have those moments where you’re like, ‘Man, I want to be here.’ Whatever the thoughts that go through your head but I think for me, I’ve overcome so much in my life.
“I’ve gone through so much with my family,” Porter stated. “I’ve gone through so much personally that little stuff like a trade rumor, I kinda leave that stuff up to God. I kinda have zero stress about it because I know wherever I end up, it’ll be meant to be. So, I love where I’m at and I love playing with these dudes and I think we have a chance to get rolling and do something special.”
That is certainly the right mindset. It does seem likely that Porter will be traded away before the deadline but he can help his chances of staying if he plays anywhere near as well as he did against the Suns. When he plays that well, the Nuggets are very hard to beat and if they start climbing up the standings, they might think twice about making a move.
The Nuggets will be facing the Suns again next on Wednesday at 10:30 PM ET but this second clash will be at Footprint Center.
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