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

“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. ” ...

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.