COLORADO SPRINGS – The last time Michael Porter Jr. returned from an extended absence, he took a game-high 17 shots in his first game back and cannibalized the Missouri Tigers offense.

That was in the SEC Tournament in 2018, when Porter came back from his first back surgery to try and aid the Tigers in the postseason. At the time, Porter said he wasn’t fully healthy – his brother estimated it was closer to 65 percent. It was a well-intentioned but poorly-executed return.

His next game — the last competitive game he played before becoming a Denver Nugget — was a first-round loss in the NCAA tournament. In both contests the Tigers offense stalled while trying to incorporate the gifted scorer on the fly.

As Porter’s professional debut approaches, first in the preseason opener in Portland on Tuesday and then two weeks later, again in Portland, for his regular-season debut, the Nuggets are cautiously optimistic about their rookie.

“He’s going to do some things this year that are going to make my beard and hair get a little grayer, but that’s part of it,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said here at training camp. “He’s a talented, talented young player.”

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The selective highlights the team has released have had their intended effect. Social media has been buzzing with tantalizing clips of his windmill dunks. But Malone, tasked with projecting a measured tone about his 6-foot-10 wing, has been diplomatic about what he’s told assembled media here.

When asked about the open competition at small forward, Malone mentioned that Torrey Craig and Juancho Hernangomez have had impressive moments alongside the starting unit. He didn’t mention that Porter cycled into the runs as well.

Even in limited playing time together, Nuggets All-Star Nikola Jokic couldn’t help but gush about how Porter might transform the offense.

“He’s a really good shooter, he can post up guys, he can go by guys, he’s a really talented player,” Jokic said. “We didn’t have a player like that just size-wise (last year). … You can see he’s attacking the basket. He’s just going to the ball, like he’s bullying people. He’s gonna be really good.”

Porter took 29 shots over those final two games at Missouri. His role in Denver, which had the second-most pass-friendly offense in the NBA last season, will be drastically different. Most of the offense will be dictated by Jokic’s All-NBA brain, and Porter will look to benefit if he stays moving.

“We had the lineup with me, Gary and Jamal and Paul and he was there,” Jokic said. “We were just moving and cutting. He just didn’t know what to do. We told him, when you’re standing, you’re wrong. Whatever you do, just move.”

That’s exactly what Malone has told him.

“As we move the ball, he’s gotta understand cutting through the lane and finishing that cut and spotting back up, because the ball will find you,” Malone said. “That’s just how we play.”

By all accounts, Porter has bought into his new role. His basketball odyssey has taken him to the heights of highlight reels and lows of two back surgeries. That would take a toll on anyone, let alone a 21-year-old who has faced little on-court resistance when healthy.

“It’s just going to take me being mature because we have such a great team already, and I’m a first-year player,” Porter said. “I don’t know everything that is going on. I probably won’t get the huge role I wanted off the bat, but every player started slow. Look at Kawhi (Leonard) when he was first in San Antonio.”

Porter knows his on-court development is a work in progress, which is why he’s unlikely to get the starting small forward job. His defense must improve substantially, and his feel for his new role will take time. After all, playing Jokic-ball is a graduate-level course.

“It’s crazy, you won’t even think (Jokic is) looking at you and he’ll throw a pass to you,” Porter said. “For me, I’m such a big cutter that they tell me I can be the best cutter on the team just because I can finish above the rim. Nikola has such good vision that I just have to keep moving.”

Despite his exceptional shooting range and the resulting mismatches he’s bound to cause for opposing teams, the offense is by no means going to cater to Porter.

“… For me it’s just not disappearing,” Porter said. “When I’m off the ball, sometimes I have trouble getting involved if I don’t have the ball in my hands.”

If this sounds like a more mature, deliberate version of him, that’s because it is. Last season, while he was relegated to rehabbing, all he could do was talk about his game. At exit interviews, no less than three players brought up his penchant for boasting about his talent. So far this year, that’s not been the case.

“I’ve seen a lot of growth between the last scrimmage we had in preseason, before we got down here,” veteran forward Paul Millsap said. “And watching him in camp he’s shown a lot of maturity.”

Millsap is the eldest veteran on the team, and his voice carries arguably the most weight in the locker room. That his watchful eye has caught Porter working, and not talking, is a window into the rookie’s mindset.

“That comes with figuring it out and understanding how the NBA works,” Millsap said. “Being injured is one thing, walking around when you’re injured, not playing, but when you have an opportunity, it changes your whole perspective and your attitude.”

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