Michael Porter Jr. On First Days in Brooklyn: ‘Working as Hard as Ever'

Michael Porter Jr. opened up on getting moved to the Brooklyn Nets and what the new experience has been like for him so far.

“It's a whirlwind getting traded,” Porter said on his ‘Curious Mike’ personal YouTube channel. “You have to figure out the new facility, your new space, how you get to the arena. All that little stuff, it takes a minute.”

The 27-year-old was selected by the Nuggets as the No. 14 overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft. He has never played anywhere else in the NBA. Porter compared his first days in Brooklyn to his start in Denver.

“It took me about three years to learn how to get from my crib to the Denver Airport with no GPS, so it’s definitely gonna be a little adjustment period,” he commented.

The video also featured Porter’s tour of the Nets’ training facility. Brooklyn practices at the HSS Training Center in the Industry City neighborhood. The former Mizzou man was impressed by the facilities as a whole, and commented on the team’s isolation tank.

Porter said: “That's something we didn't have in Denver. You basically just go and you float in the water, and there's so much salt in the water that you just get to float, and chill in there, so I'm definitely going to utilize that. Do some praying in there, some meditation, stuff like that.”

The video wrapped up with the 6-foot-10 forward being put through a skill workout by Nets staffers. Porter averaged 18.2 points, 7.0 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.1 'stocks' in 77 games last season. He will enter his seventh pro year with Brooklyn.

“They got me working probably as hard as I've ever worked, but I'm making progress,” he said. “I'm excited, man. It's an amazing opportunity. The staff over here is great. They're getting me right already.”

Porter isn’t the only one who’s excited. An anonymous Nets front office executive quoted by Spotrac recently mentioned how helpful he will be to the team's scoring.

“We’re transitioning our roster, of course,” the exec reportedly said. “We’re going to play a lot of young players. But we need some vets to balance that. And, of course, we need to score some points. Porter will help us a ton there. I’m not saying he’ll win the scoring title, but I think it could be close.”

The last player to average less than 30 points per game and be the NBA's scoring leader was Russell Westbrook (28.1 points per game) in the 2014-15 season. Since then, Stephen Curry, Westbrook, James Harden, Joel Embiid, Luka Doncic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander have all crossed the 30-point rubicon.