The Nuggets are undoubtedly the most successful team in the NBA this season, breaking the embarrassing record of 47 years without a championship in team history, and many players have also won their first championship trophy.
Like those veterans, Jeff Green, Ismail Smith, Jordan Jr., Reggie Jackson and others, have filled a big gap in their careers, and for Murray and Jokic, this championship is equally important, Murray was seriously injured for two years, and immediately won the championship after returning.
Jokic won two MVPs and was ridiculed by Embiid for achieving nothing, and now he has proved in the playoffs and finals that his MVP is well deserved, and he won the FMVP without suspense. For the Nuggets' other core, Porter Jr., this championship also broke the doubts of the outside world.
Porter Jr.'s performance in the Finals has had a lot of ups and downs Averaging only 9.6 points and 8.3 rebounds per game, shooting 32.8% from the field, 14.3% from three-point range, G2 and G3 are only 2 points and 5 points, fortunately in G4 and G5, he is no longer obsessed with long-range shooting, increased a lot of aggression, and has more no-ball cuts, and the defensive end and rebounding are more active, especially in G5, the key stage is his three-pointer, breakthrough, rebounding to help the Nuggets win, and then win the championship.
In terms of the final result and Porter Jr.'s overall performance in the playoffs, his 13.4 points, 8.1 rebounds and 1.6 assists, 42.3% shooting percentage, 35.1% three-point shooting rate is qualified, his overall stability is not as good as Gordon, but it can be seen that he has a higher ceiling while ups and downs, as long as he reads the game well, he can play better.
People's doubts about Porter stemmed from the downturn of the finals G2 and G3, but Porter completed his self-redemption in G5, and the 24-year-old Porter Jr. is also a proud son of heaven, in the 18th year of the draft, he was once a favorite to be the champion, but before the draft he was exposed to lumbar problems, and even a reporter said that he may not be able to get the basketball court.
Before the draft, Porter Jr. underwent lumbar spine surgery, which made his draft prospects drop sharply, and finally the Nuggets chose to bet on Porter Jr. with a 14-pick lottery sign, the Nuggets were very patient with Porter Jr.'s waiting, just joined the Nuggets in the 18-19 season, Porter Jr. could not play because he had just undergone surgery, and could only watch on the sidelines throughout the season.
After his comeback, he quickly established himself in the Nuggets, averaging 9.3 points and 4.7 rebounds per game in the 19-20 season, shooting 50.9% from the field and 42.2% from three-point range, and in the limited playing time, Porter Jr. repaid the team's patience with his efficient scoring performance.
In the third year of his career, that is, in the 20-21 season, Porter Jr. became a regular starter for the team, averaging 19.0 points and 7.3 rebounds per game in 61 games, due to the presence of Jokic and Murray, his usage rate was not high, and he spent most of the offensive end off the ball, but in this situation, Porter Jr. remained efficient, shooting 54.2% from the field, 44.5% from three-point range, and averaging 1.7 three-pointers per game.
Such an efficient and productive performance completely impressed the Nuggets, and in the summer of '21, without getting out of the rookie contract, the Nuggets directly and sincerely offered a five-year, $172 million early contract extension, and after getting a big contract, Porter Jr. suffered a recurrence of old injuries in the following 21-22 seasons and underwent lumbar spine surgery again.
In the face of such a situation, many people from the outside world said that Porter Jr. was completely flat after cheating a big contract, and after almost a full season break in the 21-22 season, Porter Jr. came back again, and he continued the stable performance of the previous two seasons in the regular season, averaging 17.4 points and 5.5 rebounds in 62 games, and the data was a slight decline compared to the 20-21 season, but his ability made the Nuggets look at it, and this performance was completely enough for Jokic and Murray.
Porter Jr., who eventually came back to help the Nuggets win the championship this season, he is definitely not the kind of dispensable player for the Nuggets, and his influence on the game is not only based on three points and breakthroughs on the offensive end, his talent and movement speed allow him to cover almost five positions on the defensive end, with a height of 2.08 meters and an arm span of 2.14 meters, making him very calm on the defensive end.
In addition to winning the championship to break doubts and win respect, Porter Jr.'s victory this time has allowed him to earn a lot of money, before he signed a 5-year $172 million contract with the Nuggets, in the last season, that is, the 26-27 season is only 12 million guaranteed, want to convert to full protection, need Porter Jr. to be cut before the contract expires, enter the All-Star twice, or win MVP, DPOY, the best team and other awards, or help the team win the championship, He played at least 62 games in the regular season and 75 percent attendance in the playoffs.
Porter Jr.'s attendance met the requirements this season and eventually helped the team win the championship, so his contract for the 26-27 season was transferred to full guarantee, and the annual salary was directly increased from 12 million to 40.8 million, this time to win the championship, Porter Jr. won $28.8 million for himself in the terms of the contract alone! He is arguably the Nuggets player who has made the most money since the Nuggets won the championship.
At present, Porter Jr.'s contract has just begun to execute, leaving a lot of time for the Nuggets and Porter Jr., and the 24-year-old Porter Jr. looks more mature after the baptism of this season, from the pride of the sky to continuous reimbursement, and then to Nirvana after winning the championship, now the only thing Porter Jr. thinks about in the game is to help the team win, "As long as we win, I don't care how many points I get, whether it's 20 points or 0 points, it doesn't matter." ”