Nuggets' Porter targeting March return from spinal surgery

Denver Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr. is planning to return in March following his lumbar spine surgery in November, his agent told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

Porter is expected to be cleared for on-court contact during the coming week.

The 23-year-old hasn't played since a seven-minute appearance Nov. 6 - the Nuggets' ninth game of the regular season. He underwent surgery on his back Dec. 1 and was reportedly expected to miss the remainder of the regular season.

However, Denver's president of basketball operations, Tim Connelly, said earlier in February that Porter, along with fellow injured Nuggets star Jamal Murray, would be physically cleared "in the not too distant future." Murray has been out since April 12, when he tore the ACL in his left knee in a regular-season loss to the Golden State Warriors.

Porter, who penned a five-year, $172-million rookie contract extension before the start of the season, struggled to find his rhythm through his team's first nine games, averaging just 9.9 points and shooting 20.8% on 3-pointers. The former Missouri forward scored 19 points per game on 44.5% 3-point shooting last season.

Back issues have plagued Porter throughout his collegiate and professional career. During his freshman year with Missouri in 2017, Porter underwent a microdiscectomy of the L3-L4 discs in his spine, which limited him to just three total appearances for the Tigers.

He had a second spinal surgery a month after he was picked 14th overall in the 2018 NBA Draft, causing him to miss what would have been his rookie year.

Despite playing without Porter and Murray for a majority of the season, the Nuggets are 35-25 entering Sunday and occupy the sixth seed in the Western Conference.