Nuggets' Michael Porter Jr. facing additional 10-14 day quarantine, per report

Porter Jr. completed a 7-day quarantine and was expected to play Thursday night, but was held out instead

Denver Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr. is facing an additional 10-14-day quarantine under the league's health and safety guidelines, according to a report from The Athletic's Shams Charania. This is not an extension of his initial COVID-19 quarantine, per a report from the Denver Post's Mike Singer. 

Porter entered into a seven-day quarantine last week after a close contact with COVID-19, and was expected to be cleared on Wednesday night and ready to play in the Nuggets' matchup with the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday. Instead, he was once again held out, and it's now unclear when he'll be able to play again. 

If he is cleared after a minimum of 10 days, it is possible Porter could be back on the court for the Nuggets' matchup with the Utah Jazz on Jan. 17. At the very least, however, he will miss the team's next four games. That's on top of the four he's already missed during his initial quarantine. 

At 3-4, the Nuggets have been off to a bit of a slow start this season, but have won their last two without Porter. The second-year forward can really score, and is putting up 19.5 points per game on 56.6 percent shooting this season, but is a liability on the defensive end. 

And in an admittedly small sample size the Nuggets have been much better without him on the floor. In the four games he participated in, their net rating with him on the court was minus-8.1 points per 100 possessions. When he went to the bench it jumped to plus-4.7. Denver will obviously want Porter back as soon as possible, but that's a trend worth monitoring as the season goes along.