Michael Porter Jr. is one of the top prospects in the 2018 NBA Draft and could potentially go No. 1 overall, but a recent injury might threaten his status as a possible top overall choice.
Last Tuesday, the Missouri Tigers announced that their star freshman had to undergo surgery that would require 3-4 months of recovery. That timetable given by the school meant Porter would likely miss his entire one-and-done college season after barely touching the floor at all for the Tigers.
But over the weekend, Porter posted a somewhat ambiguous message to fans on his Instagram account, hinting that he could be back in action sooner than expected. Porter’s post is a picture of his living room with the caption “whoever said it was going to take 3-4 months to recover lied.”
Posted on Michael Porter Jr.’s Instagram. Interpret at your own risk. pic.twitter.com/FMIjIo1iGo
— Dave Matter (@Dave_Matter) November 26, 2017
Of course, you could also interpret Porter’s message to mean that he might be out longer than the projected 3-4-month timetable, but that doesn’t seem likely.
Either way, it’s a setback that could potentially affect his draft stock, particularly in light of Marvin Bagley III’s 11th-hour reclassification to make himself eligible to play college ball this season and by proxy enter next summer’s draft, as well as Luka Doncic suddenly appearing on everyone’s radar.
Joel Embiid is a prime example of a projected No. 1 pick whose injury concerns caused him to fall to No. 3, but Kyrie Irving, meanwhile, still went No. 1 overall after missing most of his freshman season at Duke.
At 6’10, Porter is a prototypical forward for the modern NBA and will be difficult to pass on for any NBA team that has the opportunity to draft him. It’d be nice for Tiger fans if he could, indeed, return to action sometime this season, but he certainly shouldn’t rush his recovery to do so if it’s a risk to his long-term future in the league.
