The Denver Nuggets are holding out on playing Michael Porter Jr, and no one knows for certain, why. If he is healthy, we all know with his potential and skill he should be getting more minutes off the bench than Jerami Grant. There is no real reason for keeping the minutes of Porter limited unless Denver is trying to either hold him out to be trade bait, or to make sure they don't rush him back after having back surgeries and rehabbing.
All of these things could be true but the reality is that this young man is losing valuable minutes, growth, maturation and development by being glued to the bench. There are no other forwards on Denver with the upside of Michael. He offers so much to Denver that is unmatched by anyone they have. He is a combination of what Murray and Jokic bring together, playmaking, shooting and size. He has the ability to develop into the star that Denver needs to become a true contender in the west.
Currently the Nuggets sit as the 3rd seed in the west, but they can easily fall to 6th with any short losing streak. This raises even more of an eyebrow when it comes to the lack of play for MPJ for a team that will need every skill player they have to compete for a chance at a title run if and when they make the playoffs. So what is Mike Malone doing?
Something tells me that maybe MPJ is not picking up on the offensive schemes as much as Malone would like. MPJ not really being known to be a great defender could potentially be stripping his playing time seeing that Malone is a defensive minded coach. But if I were to go out on a limb, I believe that this is a mandate by the organization to not have a repeat of what happened with Carmelo Anthony. I believe they are trying to place a belief within MPJ now that he has to buy into being a part of the team. That even though he could potentially be their best player at such a young age he has to earn minutes, he has to earn respect and he must show that respect back.
The Nuggets have not had a real superstar since the departure of Carmelo to New York. They have had solid seasons where Ty Lawson and Kenneth Faried led the team to victories but never blossomed into a true threat to win a championship. MPJ gives them that opportunity to have a dominant wing player again who can take over and win games for you. However, they do not want him to become overly infatuated with himself or being exalted by the press to a point where he starts to become a diva like some would argue Carmelo did. They want him to buy into the culture that is being established and I feel his lack of minutes is being treated as a humbling process.
All in all MPJ needs to play and it should come sooner rather than later, or if not Denver needs to trade him somewhere where he can put his talents on display.
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