Why Michael Porter Jr. Experiment is Win-Win Situation for Nets

The Brooklyn Nets are hoping for a solid season from one of their biggest offseason additions, but they’ll probably be just fine regardless of how it plays out.

Over the offseason, plenty of teams around the league made some major noise. From the Houston Rockets trading for Kevin Durant to the Oklahoma City Thunder signing their young trio to massive extensions, there was no shortage of storylines.

While Brooklyn didn’t exactly make any deals involving the league’s best players, it still turned some heads with its draft night decisions. Along with selecting five players in the first round, the Nets also traded Cam Johnson to the Denver Nuggets for Michael Porter Jr. and a 2032 unprotected first-round pick.

Of course, that deal made headlines mostly for how it could impact the 2026 title race with Johnson joining forces with Nikola Jokic in Denver. However, that 2032 pick has still left some intrigue on the Brooklyn side of things, making Porter the most overlooked piece of the deal.

Entering the final two years of his current contract, Porter certainly has something to prove with the Nets. Along with wanting to secure his next deal, he will be looking to disprove some of the narratives surrounding him.

The good news for Brooklyn is that it effectively can’t lose in this situation with Porter. With the 2032 pick being the prized possession from the draft night deal, anything extra it can get out of Porter would be a bonus.

The best-case scenario would be for Porter to play well and show he can perform efficiently in an expanded role and increase his trade value ahead of either the deadline or next offseason. However, if things take a turn for the worse and Porter struggles as his trade value diminishes, the Nets will still be perfectly fine.

In that scenario, Porter’s poor play would likely help the Nets rack up the losses in the midst of their tank. Although that might also make it more difficult to part ways with him via trade, he is still set to become a free agent in 2027, which could lead to Brooklyn signing him to a value deal or simply letting his name come off the books after his current deal.

Obviously, the Nets want to see Porter succeed in his role and blossom into a player he was never able to be in Denver, but if he doesn’t, there won’t be much negative impact for Brooklyn.