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Michael Porter Jr. of the Nets

Brooklyn Nets forward Michael Porter Jr. admitted that he took his foot off the gas following the NBA All-Star break.

Porter played like an All-Star in the first half of the season, averaging 25 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 3.2 assists per game while shooting .474/.385/.853 in 41 games before the break. Despite those strong statistics, Porter was left off the NBA’s Eastern Conference All-Star team, and after the break, he didn’t perform nearly as well.

In just 11 games after the All-Star break, Porter’s stats tanked across the board. He averaged 21.3 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 2.5 assists while shooting just .421/.274/.880. He also dealt with injuries, and with the Nets out of the playoff hunt, the team shut him down.

Michael Porter Jr. Admits He Let His Foot off the Gas

Speaking to the “Road Trippin’ Show” podcast, Porter admitted that he didn’t play as hard after the All-Star break, both because he didn’t make the All-Star team and because the Nets had no chance of making the playoffs.

“I regret that once I didn’t make that All-Star game, I let my foot off the gas because there really wasn’t anything we were playing for anymore. We couldn’t make the playoffs, I couldn’t be an All-Star… I wasn’t in the weight room as much, I wasn’t preparing as much, and my three-point percentage dropped,” Porter Jr. said (h/t Erik Slater).

It’s a shocking admission by the player. Even though it was evident he wasn’t performing as well, NBA players very rarely will admit that they weren’t playing hard. That being said, it does take some guts for Porter to publicly admit what everyone else saw, so credit him for speaking his truth and not shying away from what was obvious to everyone who watched him play in the second half of the season.

Michael Porter Jr. Could be a Trade Chip for the Nets

Porter was acquired from the Denver Nuggets along with a future, unprotected first-round pick last offseason in a quasi-salary dump for Cameron Johnson.  The Nuggets wanted to keep Porter on the team, but his massive salary would hurt the team’s future salary cap flexibility, and thus, he was dealt to Brooklyn. Porter recently said on a stream that the Nuggets made a mistake trading him, and that they wouldn’t have been upset by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the NBA playoffs.

Porter still has one year left on his contract at a hefty $40.8 million next season. It’s a big number for the player, but if he performs the way he did in the first half of the season before the All-Star break, then he could be worth it.

Since Porter is an expiring contract, the Nets could potentially shop him around the league, taking on another team’s salary dump and acquiring future draft assets for doing so. Given the Nets are unlikely to contend again next season, it does make a lot of sense for the team to gauge interest in him from other squads. If another team gets the first-half version of Porter, then it could be a huge addition for them. But if it’s the second-half version, he won’t be worth it.