(Hell, he’s even done it against the Jazz before.) Similarly, so does Eric Paschall, whom the Jazz acquired from the Warriors via trade. Specifically, Gay has plenty of experience punching above his weight class as a small-ball center, having done so with the Spurs. But more than anything, it’d be a huge shot in the arm for Denver if Porter can create more of his own offense. He’s far from a finished product on defense, where he collects a decent number of blocks due to his length but still has a tendency to fall asleep and get lost. The Nuggets can’t ask for anything more than what they got out of reigning MVP Nikola Jokić, who was in great shape, played in every game last season and logged career highs across the board-even after sidekick Jamal Murray went down with an ACL tear.Īnd while that might also seem true of Porter, who last year doubled his scoring output to 19 points per game while shooting even more efficiently than he did in 2020, there’s plenty of room for growth for the 23-year-old. If there’s a team that could really use one of its best players making a leap this season, it’s Denver with Michael Porter Jr. With all that in mind, here are seven of the biggest X-factors that could shift the balance of the NBA this year.
