The Denver Nuggets reportedly believe Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. could return from their injuries by the time the playoffs begin, according to Sam Amick of The Athletic.
Per Amick, Porter is set to return by mid to late March. The Missouri product was thought to be done for the season after undergoing his third back surgery in November.
Denver Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr., is progressing to be cleared for on-court contact within the next week, freeing a path for him to return to the lineup sometime in March, his agent Mark Bartelstein of @PrioritySports tells ESPN. Story: https://t.co/kGgAmFvgZs
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 27, 2022
The 25-year-old guard has been out since April 2021, when he tore the ACL in his left knee. At the time, Murray averaged a career-high 21.2 points per game on career-best 40.8 percent shooting from distance. According to ESPN’s Tim Bontemps, the target for Murray is sometime in March as well.
Denver could potentially get back both Porter and Jamal Murray in the next month. They have the potential to be an extremely dangerous team come playoff time if they can get healthy. In a very brief sample last year, those two, Nikola Jokic and Aaron Gordon were dominant together https://t.co/h2vNimwKEV
— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) February 27, 2022
Denver has seemingly been optimistic about Murray and Porter coming back since early February when team president Tim Connely told Denver sports radio that both franchise cornerstones could return “in the not too distant future.”
On Wednesday, the Nuggets (36-25) will play the Trail Blazers (25-36). The return of Porter in the coming weeks could provide a big boost for a Nuggets team that’s struggled with injury but stayed afloat because of another MVP-quality season from reigning MVP Nikola Jukic.
