Michael Porter Jr. is unlikely to ever make an All-Defensive team, but Nuggets coach Michael Malone doesn’t expect that.
What he does expect — and what Porter has exhibited through three games — is a willingness to commit at the defensive end, the side of the floor which has come much less naturally to the gifted 6-foot-10 forward.
“I’m so proud of Michael,” Malone said after the Nuggets survived the Thunder on Saturday night, winning both games of a back-to-back despite arriving back in Denver at 3:30 in the morning from San Francisco.
“I’m on him a lot about his defense, but I think being a coach in a leadership position, you also have to reward them when they’re doing things correctly and build the confidence up,” Malone said.
In the season-opening loss at Utah, “he dove on the floor for a loose ball, he was flying around contesting shots,” Malone said.
He was right. Porter’s effort was noticeably better in the second half against the Jazz when he hit the floor for a loose ball and appeared to cleanly block a dunk that was ultimately whistled a foul. On both plays Denver’s bench erupted in applause at Porter’s effort. His urgency on 3-point run-offs also caught his coach’s attention.
“What Michael showed me is that, will he ever be Scottie Pippen? Probably not,” Malone said. “I don’t want him to be Scottie Pippen. I want him to be the best version of Michael Porter Jr. he can be, and right now what he’s showing me is that he cares.”
Two nights later, Porter was caught on an island against the Warriors’ Steph Curry with 1:58 remaining and the Nuggets clinging to a five-point lead. If you squinted hard, you could see shades of Kevin Love giving the exact same effort against Curry in the 2016 Finals. Porter moved his feet and tried hard to mirror Curry’s shiftiness. When Curry drove left, Porter timed and swatted the layup attempt. It was as strong an example as you’ll find of Porter’s willingness to engage defensively.
Against the Thunder on Saturday night, Porter played 8:55 of the fourth quarter, second only to Nikola Jokic. In a tight game, where Denver’s one-on-one defense had been abysmal, there was no margin for a player to be on the court who wasn’t committed defensively. Porter still had his lapses. Thunder forward Josh Giddey blew by him like a traffic cone en route to an uncontested layup with 1:47 left.
Bruce Brown subbed out for Porter shortly thereafter, improving Denver’s versatility with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Aaron Gordon on the floor as well. Just because that three-man pairing could be common in crunch time doesn’t mean that Porter hasn’t made marked strides.
“He’s committed to trying,” Malone said. “Thatap all I ever want. I’m gonna make mistakes, players are going to make mistakes, but if you genuinely care and are committed to trying and making the effort, then we’re never gonna have any problems. Michael has shown a tremendous amount of growth in that regard.”
