Denver Nuggets Trading Michael Porter Jr in Blockbuster Deal originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
The Denver Nuggets are finally moving on from the Michael Porter Jr. experience with a blockbuster deal.
Ever since he fell to the Nuggets at the bottom of the NBA draft lottery, Porter has been a massive injury risk for Denver.
Across 77 healthy games during the 2024-25 regular season, the 27-year-old Porter averaged an encouraging 18.2 points on .504/.395/.768 shooting splits, 7.0 rebounds, and 2.1 assists.
The 6-foot-10 pro also missed the entirety of what would have been his 2018-19 rookie season while recuperating from an injury, and all but nine games in 2021-22 thanks to another major ailment.
During the playoffs this past spring, Porter was a shell of himself while dealing with a shoulder injury. He averaged just 9.1 points on .392/.343/.714 shooting splits, 5.5 rebounds, 0.6 assists and 0.6 blocks.
ESPN’s Shams Charania reports that Denver is moving on from Porter’s heinous contract, flipping him to the Brooklyn Nets, plus an unprotected 2032 first-rounder, in exchange for two-way standout combo forward Cameron Johnson.
BREAKING: The Denver Nuggets are trading Michael Porter Jr. and an unprotected 2032 first-round pick to the Brooklyn Nets for Cam Johnson, sources tell ESPN. pic.twitter.com/o6rdWhu3Rl
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 30, 2025
This deal represents a massive upgrade for the 2023 champs.
Porter is owed $79.1 million across the final two seasons of his deal, and in this writer’s opinion, would be lucky to fetch half that were he a free agent today. Johnson, meanwhile, is making a far more manageable $44.1 million across the final two years of his own contract.
Johnson, who’s two years older than Porter, enjoyed a career year on the tanking Nets. Across 57 healthy games, the 6-foot-8 pro averaged 18.8 points on a .475/.390/.893 slash line, 4.3 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 0.9 steals a night.
An All-ACC honoree while with the North Carolina Tar Heels, Johnson is a far better two-way player than Porter.
While he has missed his share of games with the Phoenix Suns and later the Nets (he’s never played in more than 66 regular season contests in a season), Johnson doesn’t present the same kind of lower body injury concerns Porter does.
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This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 30, 2025, where it first appeared.