Nets' Michael Porter Jr. Focused on Growth Despite Unlikely Playoff Push

The Brooklyn Nets lost all but two games in February and began March with another loss, though the team showed considerable signs of improvement against the Cleveland Cavaliers, a team looking to represent the Eastern Conference in the NBA Finals.

The main discourse surrounding the Nets' fanbase all season has been whether the team should go all in and try and make a push for the playoffs or bottom out for a chance to get a top-three pick in this year's draft.

Wherever your stance was, the Nets are naturally catering to those in favor of the latter. Brooklyn holds one of the three worst records in the league and is two games ahead of the NBA-worst Sacramento Kings, getting there without sitting any of its veterans.

For all the hoopla about how tanking is in the Nets' best long-term interests, Michael Porter Jr. makes it clear that it doesn't give you an excuse to go through the rest of the season on autopilot.

"You definitely are trying to grow and continue to get better as a player," Porter said. "I think growing within the scheme of how we wanna play is important. The motivation to make the playoffs might not be there, but the motivation individually, as a player, as a person, to go out there and work on my skills, my leadership skills, and my individual things within the team, that's still there, so you can't just throw away a season because you're not making the playoffs."

It feels like a lifetime ago that the Nets turned their season around during one of the most magical times of the year, when Brooklyn went 7-4 and boasted the league's best defensive rating in December.

Porter elevated his game to new heights, Nic Claxton's all-around skills, especially playmaking, started to take on a life of its own, and the Nets' young core capitalized on more minutes on the floor.

However, the schedule got tougher for the Nets once the calendar flipped to 2026, and injuries got in the way, beginning their slow descent back towards the bottom of the standings.

The proof is in the pudding, though. The players proved they have what it takes to execute Nets coach Jordi Fernández's coaching schemes and win games at the highest level.

More talent will come, but for now, all the Nets' players can do is finish the season strong - win or lose.