Michael Porter Jr. became the man of the basketball world in Missouri about three and a half years ago when nobody could defend him at Father Tolton.
He was only 16 years old, but he was a man among boys on the court. He towered over opposing teams' post players, but had the skills of a guard.
At age 17, he was a Class 3 state champion. At 18, he and younger brother Jontay made their mark in Washington by transforming the Nathan Hale basketball team into one of the best in the nation.
By that time, the buzz about Porter Jr. wasn't concentrated in Missouri anymore. The nation found out about the 6-foot-10 player that couldn't be stopped, averaging about 36 points and 14 rebounds per game as a senior. They witnessed what basketball fans in Missouri had seen for a couple years already. The next NBA star was being born.
Porter Jr. had the talent to be the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA draft at just age 18. A year later, he still has that talent, but he wasn't even being considered for the No. 1 pick for good reason.
No. 2? No. 5? Nope. 10? Keep going. The player that, as Missouri coach Cuonzo Martin put it, "changed the trajectory" of the Tiger basketball program, had to wait until the 14th pick Thursday night to hear his name called.
Porter Jr. can shoot over and dribble past anybody anywhere, except at the doctor's office.
The 12 teams that passed on him don't think his talent out-weighs his injury issues. Neither do I.
A basketball career that's been building for years may have been destroyed during a two-minute stretch last November at Mizzou Arena.
Porter Jr. checked out of the season-opener against Iowa State and never played on Missouri's home floor again. The player that was going to bring Missouri basketball back into the national spotlight had his college career limited to two minutes of playing time during the regular season, a loss in the SEC Tournament and a blowout defeat in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Missouri basketball team still garnered attention nationally, but it was all about Porter Jr.'s back injury. While the rest of the team was able to at least be competitive for the first time in a few years, the constant question of when Porter Jr. would return to the floor overshadowed the Tigers' 20-win season.
Porter Jr. did finally make his anticipated return. However, he was still limited in how much he could play and couldn't truly show what he could do in his final two games as a Tiger after four months away from game action.
The Denver Nuggets apparently saw enough to make him their top draft pick and are hoping they found a pot of gold with the 14th pick in the draft. But I wouldn't have made that call. Those 12 teams that picked before the Nuggets made the safer, smart choice. When injuries linger for that long, it's just not worth the risk of having a first-round selection wasted.
There's no questioning whether Porter Jr. can be a star in the NBA. He's the type of player that can make any NBA team go.
Fully healthy, Porter Jr. could be leading the Nuggets to the playoffs next season. In a few years, maybe he's a top-10 player in the league. That's the upside the Nuggets' front office is hoping to get out of him. But it's the downside that forced other teams to pass on a potential franchise player.
The Porter Jr. injury drama plagued this past season for the Missouri Tigers. Denver hopes it doesn't suffer the same fate.