Michael Porter Jr. Joins the Nets
Michael Porter Jr., the highest-paid player coming to the Brooklyn Nets as part of a contract maneuver, is set to earn $78 million over the next two seasons. That’s quite an amount, isn’t it?
The forward, who has unfortunately faced significant injuries in his career, mentioned that he’s taking things one year at a time. Next summer, he plans to reassess if he can even continue playing due to his physical challenges.
“Honestly, I’m not sure how long I want to play because of my injuries,” he shared with podcaster Justin Lavoy. “I want to keep going, but people don’t realize what I endure daily just to compete with top athletes.”
Porter had his third back surgery in December 2021, which kept him off the court for a sizeable chunk of the 2021-22 season. Although he’s mostly managed to be on the roster since then, he still deals with nerve damage, has been wearing ankle braces for “foot falls,” and is putting in a lot of behind-the-scenes work just to stay fit for play.
This past summer, he decided to take a break in Costa Rica, unplug from everything, and reflect on his situation. He described feeling inspired and committed to his current basketball season.
“I’ve come to a realization,” he said. “I’ll just focus on this year and see how it goes.”
Porter intends to put everything he has into basketball for now, but will review his situation next year. “I mean, maybe I’ll travel somewhere, leave my phone behind for a few days, and really think about what I want moving forward. I don’t want to plan too far ahead,” he adds, which kind of makes sense, right?
Meanwhile, the team is leaning on Juwan Howard’s experience to guide its young players. Coach Jordi Fernández expressed appreciation for Howard’s ability to connect with the team and help him improve as a coach. “Juwan plays a key role for me. His relationship with the players is invaluable and honestly makes me a better coach,” he said.
On a different note, New Zealand’s GM Sean Marks indicated there likely won’t be any more contract dumps for the Nets this season, suggesting a strategy to maintain cap space moving forward. “We didn’t use all the cap space we could have, and that wasn’t our intention,” he mentioned, pointing out Brooklyn’s potential $15.5 million cap room for future trades.
