Heading into the 2018 NBA Draft, evaluating Michael Porter Jr.’s draft stock was a complicated task.On one hand, Porter was the top ranked high school player in his class before heading to the University of Missouri.Tabbed as an elite offensive talent (perhaps the best in this entire draft class), his ability to put the ball in the basket in a variety of ways, coupled with his 6’10” frame, made him an attractive option. Some, like Chauncey Billups on the ESPN telecast, even compared him to a young Kevin Durant.On the other hand, a major back injury that led to surgery limited him to just three college games in his one-and-done season.Averaging 10.0 points and 6.3 rebounds in 17.7 minutes for Missouri in those three contests, he never had the chance to show off his talent. Those numbers also include the first game of the season in which he played just two minutes, so they're skewed.That back injury and some confusion regarding his current health led to massive concerns over his status as a top-tier prospect.It was obvious that most teams were scared off, as he fell out of the top five, the top 10 and nearly completely out of the lottery.The Denver Nuggets selected him with the 14th overall pick.

Despite the slide, Porter said all the right things after hearing his name called.

"All I can say is it's a blessing," Porter told ESPN in an on-air interview. "I'm not entitled to this, everything's a blessing. And I'm so excited, you know, my path was different, a little different than everybody else's, but I'm gonna make sure that this pick, is this organization's best pick they've ever made.”

Nuggets assistant general manager Calvin Booth admitted he was shocked that Porter dropped to them at No. 14.

“Coming into this process, we would've never thought that Michael would have been there at that point in the draft," Booth said in a statement, according to the Denver Post. "To come up with him is just unbelievable. ... here is a guy who had a chance to be a No. 1 pick before his injury."

According to Porter, teams must have overreacted when finding out that he recently experienced hip soreness.

"It was just a little sore, so I told [my agent] my hip was kind of sore and he just wanted to shut it down for a couple of days," Porter said earlier this week. "And then people took that and kind of ran with it, saying, you know, my hip was injured, I couldn't get out of bed. ... None of that was really true. I was just sore and I wanted to take a couple of days off. So that's all that was."

Since he was able to return to the court for his team’s final two games at Missouri, his back should be fully healed.

Therefore, if Porter’s health holds up, Denver might have selected one of the biggest steals in recent draft history. If it doesn’t, they passed on a number of other potential difference-makers.

But, since Porter’s ceiling is seemingly so high, he might be worth the risk. It will be fascinating to see how his career transpires.