Brooklyn Nets forward Michael Porter Jr. is in the midst of his second season with the Nets after coming to the team prior to last season in an offseason trade from the Denver Nuggets. Brooklyn has been able to utilize Porter in a way that shows how capable he is of scaling up his offense, but since this is a contract year, his name could once again be present in trade rumors.

"I would just say that one player to watch this year just in general is Michael Porter Jr.," ESPN NBA insider Brian Windhorst said of Porter on a recent episode of the "Brian Windhorst & The Hoop Collective" podcast. The segment in question was discussing if Brooklyn could be competitive this season with Porter and forward Julius Randle in the fold, but that would depend on how long Porter sticks around.

"Porter has not gotten a contract extension. He's in the last year of his contract and he had a pretty good year last year after getting traded there by Denver," Windhorst continued. "If a guy's not in a contract extension, you think about, do you see a possible trade candidate? The Nets want to be competitive, they need to be competitive because they don't control their draft pick now."

Porter, 28, is coming off a 2025-26 season in which he averaged 24.2 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 3.0 assists per game while shooting 46.3% from the field and 36.3% from behind the three-point line in 52 games played. To begin the 2026-27 campaign, Porter put up 26 points, seven rebounds, and three steals in Wednesday's 110-103 loss to the Charlotte Hornets, showing that he could be set for another excellent season as one of the primary scorers.

Porter was a constant presence in trade rumors last season, especially once the Nets got close enough to the February trade deadline with it being clear that they weren't making it to the postseason in any fashion. Brooklyn doesn't control its first-round pick in the 2027 NBA Draft, as that pick goes to the Houston Rockets, so the Nets have even more of a reason to win, but that likely won't stop the trade rumors from including Porter in the mix.