After career year in Brooklyn, Michael Porter Jr. sits at center of Nets’ next move

Michael Porter Jr. understood why Nets fans did it. He just never expected to live it.

“I understand the nature of the business,” Porter said Monday, reflecting on a season in which some fans openly rooted for losses to improve Brooklyn’s draft odds. “But as a competitor and as a player who’s never played on a losing basketball team in the entirety of my basketball career, it was different.”

That tension sat at the center of Porter’s first season in Brooklyn. The Nets were losing, but Porter was thriving. The team leaned into development and lottery position. Porter, meanwhile, showed he could handle far more than the floor-spacing role he played for years with the Denver Nuggets.

In 52 games, all starts, Porter averaged a career-high 24.2 points, 7.1 rebounds and 3.0 assists in 32.5 minutes per game while shooting 46.3% from the field, 36.3% from 3-point range and 85.9% from the line. Before a strained left hamstring sidelined him in March and Brooklyn shut him down April 3, he’d delivered the most expansive offensive season of his career.

Through his first 38 appearances, Porter averaged 25.6 points per game, fifth among qualified Eastern Conference scorers at the time when All-Star reserves were selected on Feb. 1. Though ultimately snubbed from the late-season showcase, he’d already proven he wasn’t just a shooter anymore. He was a primary option, a featured scorer and, for long stretches, the clearest proof the Nets’ trade with Denver had already paid off.

Sean Marks made that much clear.

“I don’t think anybody questioned whether he could shoot, but I think could he be a number one option?” the Nets general manager said. “And I think for us, he’s the number one option.”

That’s what makes Brooklyn’s next decision so fascinating.

Porter is owed $40.8 million next season and is extension-eligible for up to four additional years and $234 million before unrestricted free agency in 2027-28. ESPN’s Bobby Marks projects the Nets to have $31 million in cap space this summer, giving Brooklyn room to operate. The franchise can commit to Porter as part of its long-term core, or it can preserve flexibility and listen to the market after Porter rebuilt his value in a bigger role.

Marks didn’t tip his hand, but he hardly hid the organization’s posture, either.

“This summer there’s going to be a lot of those discussions, whether it’s with Michael, there’s a variety of decisions we have to make with a variety of our players on the team,” Marks said. “But in terms of a long-term build, short-term build, I think we’ve positioned ourselves over the last year or two to maintain flexibility and have optionality.”

That word says plenty. Optionality.

Brooklyn acquired Porter last offseason along with an unprotected 2032 first-round pick. Now the Nets have a 27-year-old wing who will turn 28 in June, just posted career highs across the board and has shot better than 36% from deep in four straight seasons. That profile is useful whether Brooklyn wants to keep him or sell high.

Porter made his preference plain.

“If it was up to me, I would love to sign an extension with this franchise,” he said. “I would love to spend many, many years in Brooklyn and make this my home and build and watch this franchise take off.”

He also sounded realistic enough to understand the business side. Porter said his job is “to just make it clear I want to be here” and trust the front office to do “whatever’s best for the franchise.”

That’s probably the cleanest way to frame his place in Brooklyn’s future. Porter wants in. The Nets have reason to like the fit. But this rebuild has always been bigger than sentiment.

What Porter did this season was give Brooklyn another real option.

He embraced a new city, a new role and a younger locker room. Head coach Jordi Fernández, who knew Porter from Denver, said the leadership piece was new for him.

“That was a new thing for him, to lead by example and be the oldest guy,” Fernández said. “He’s done a great job.”

That growth may be nearly as valuable as the scoring. Porter arrived with noise around him after a summer of criticism tied to comments made off the court. Once the season started, he was, by all accounts, a steady pro. Marks praised both the player and the person. Fernández trusted him with responsibility. Porter said he wants to spend offseason time around the group and continue leading the Nets’ five rookies, now entering their sophomore seasons in the league.

For a franchise still climbing out of the bottom, that carries value.

But so does timing. So does asset management. So does the chance to flip a productive veteran for more draft capital if the right offer appears.

Porter’s season didn’t force the Nets into one path. It did something more useful than that. It gave them a legitimate choice.

And for a rebuilding team that’s spent the last two years chasing flexibility, that might be the biggest win of all.

“It was a tough year and the season ended early, but I get to look at it as I’m in the offseason now, I get to get better,” Porter said. “I get to have the vision of what my role was and a vision of how these young guys fit and their roles. And I think as a team we can really have something to build off of. So, I definitely look at it as a positive steppingstone for sure.”