It's hard not to feel compassion for Nuggets first rounder Michael Porter Jr. Entering last season, Porter was projected as a potential 1st overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, but injuries ruled him out for all but three contests in his freshman season at Mizzou, what constitutes the very definition of a red shirt season.
Porter underwent microdiscectomy of his L3-L4 spinal disks in November 2017 but returned just in time for the March Madness tournament, where they lost in the opening round.
And still, many experts still foresaw a team willing to gamble on his health with a high pick. Reports emerged that Sacramento was exploring the possibility of taking him 2nd, but those rumors were proven false. Porter ultimately slipped to the Denver Nuggets at 14 overall, a team that can afford to be patient with his development, except in this case Porter isn't a case of stunted development, but rather an NBA-ready prospect waiting on team doctor to wave him in.
The Denver have announced that Michael Porter Jr. has regrettably undergone a 2nd operation on his back. This time the highlighted region is his lumbar spine, a surgical procedure undertaken by Dr. Andrew Dossett of The Carrell Clinic in Dallas. As of this writing no timetable for Porter's return has been set in stone.