Michael Porter Jr. gained a team and 13 enemies.
Porter, once the top high school recruit in the country and widely projected as a top-10 pick until this week, fell all the way to No. 14 and Denver during the NBA draft Thursday.
Teams, including the Knicks at No. 9, had gotten scared off by the medicals on the ultra-talented forward out of Missouri. Porter had briefly canceled a workout last week because of hip spasms. Porter had missed all but three games his freshman season after back surgery. There are now rumblings, The Post’s Marc Berman reported, that Porter could sit out his entire first year to get stronger.
Whenever he plays, the Nuggets hope to team him with star big man Nikola Jokic to form a wildly talented core — if it can stay healthy.
“Obviously, it’s frustrating,” Porter said Wednesday, before his draft fall. “But you can either look at it as a negative or a positive, and I try to stay positive all the time. I had a little episode last week where I hurt my hip, had a little spasm. I went to work out and it just didn’t t feel right working out. … It’s been a roller coaster, but I’m feeling good.”