Nuggets: Michael Porter Jr. Out ‘Indefinitely’ Following Back Surgery

Nuggets small forward Michael Porter Jr. is out “indefinitely” after undergoing lumbar spine surgery on Wednesday, the team said in a release.

While the Nuggets and agent Mark Bartelstein have offered no exact timeline on Porter, a report from Shams Charania of The Athletic indicated Porter will be out for the rest of the year.

“We are extremely optimistic that he’ll make a full recovery,” Bartelstein told Mike Singer of the Denver Post. “He’ll be out an undetermined amount of time as he makes his recovery.”

Meanwhile, the Nuggets will err on the side of caution, a source told Singer.

Porter, 23, is 6-foot-10 and averaging 9.9 points and 6.6 rebounds in nine appearances this season. He exited the Nov. 9 game vs. the Rockets with the injury — though it likely was nagging for a while.

The No. 14 overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, Porter missed his most of his only college season and all of his rookie season after back surgeries. 

He averaged career-highs of 19.7 points and 7.3 rebounds in 61 games last season, arguably his best yet.

The Nuggets were already missing guard Jamal Murray, and recently lost guard PJ Dozier for the season to a torn ACL. Along with all that, center and reigning league MVP Nikola Jokic has missed time with a wrist injury.

Also, guards Austin Rivers and Bones Hyland just entered the NBA’s health and safety protocol.