Overshadowed by the Denver Nuggets’ first-round match-up with the San Antonio Spurs is the news of rookie forward Michael Porter Jr. getting ready for next season.

Porter Jr. was one of the single-biggest recruits in the 2017-18 NCAA men’s basketball season and hailed as a top-3 lottery pick at one point, but he barely played due to suffering a serious back injury ahead of the season. When he returned to end the year, he looked like a shell of himself, as his movements were stiff and the athleticism, which really popped in high school, had seemingly waned.

Now, however, after redshirting his first year with a team with big-time playoff aspirations such as the Nuggets, Porter Jr. is apparently fully healthy – according to a well-hidden line in a recent Joe Vardon article for The Athletic.

By the way, I missed this twist from @joevardon in his Isaiah Thomas piece: Michael Porter Jr. is fully healthy. Bring on MPJ vs Zion in Summer League.https://t.co/hcteI77jeC pic.twitter.com/ezkkdLKEWd — Ryan Blackburn (@NBABlackburn) April 23, 2019

Clearly, Porter Jr. versus Zion Williamson in the first game of Las Vegas Summer League would be a tremendous showcase for the league’s young players as it would be the debut of both in a professional environment – a truly amazing first game for diehard NBA fans.

Let’s hope an entire season off has allowed Porter Jr. to live up to the immense hype that surrounded him ahead of his injury in 2017.