Michael Porter Jr. has had a slow start to his third NBA season coming off a five-year, $172 million contract extension.

Porter is averaging just 11.5 points on 13 shots per game while shooting 32 percent on three-pointers. 

“We gotta get Michael Porter going,” Michael Malone said. “He’s four games in, and I know that he’s capable of playing at a much higher level — from a shooting standpoint, his efficiency, his rebounding, his defense — so we gotta get more from Michael Porter.”

When Nikola Jokic banged knees with Rudy Gobert late in the first half of Tuesday's game, the worst was feared. Fortunately, it's believed Jokic avoided any sort of serious injury. Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone said, "I don't think it's anything too, too serious."

Malone said he held Jokic out of the second half of the game out after the reigning MVP told him that his knee "felt a little weak". Nuggets point guard Monte Morris said that Jokic told him that "He thinks he's fine".

Prior to the injury, Jokic had scored 24 points on 8-of-9 shooting, to go along with six rebounds and six assists. The Jazz took control in the second half to improve to 3-0 on the season.

The Denver Nuggets waived Matt Ryan. Denver then signed Giorgi Bezhanishvili to fill their open roster spot.

Ryan did not get into a preseason game with the Nuggets. He went undrafted out of Chattanooga at the 2020 NBA Draft. Ryan did not play professionally during the 2020-21 season, but played in 2021 Las Vegas Summer League with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Bezhanishvili went undrafted at the 2021 NBA Draft as an Early Entry candidate out of Illinois. The 6-foot-9 forward played for Denver at 2021 Las Vegas Summer League.

Both Ryan and Bezhanishvili are expected to land with the Grand Rapids Gold of the G League. The Gold are Denver's first singly-affiliated G-League club.

The Denver Nuggets have exercised their third-year team option for Zeke Nnaji. The 6-foot-11 big man is entering his second season with Denver.

As a rookie, Nnaji played in 42 games (one start). He averaged 3.2 points and 1.5 rebounds in 9.4 minutes per contest.

Nnaji's role is expected to grow this season, as the Nuggets lost Paul Millsap in free agency. Nnaji is expected to team with veterans JaMychal Green and Jeff Green to provide depth behind Nikola Jokic and Aaron Gordon in Denver's frontcourt.

Austin Rivers feels fortunate to have a roster spot in the NBA with the Denver Nuggets, and he's not taking it for granted. Rivers recently said, "I'm not any more comfortable now than I was a year ago. I'm still treating this like this is my last shot."

Rivers signed with the Nuggets late in the 2020-21 season. He was added as an injury replacement for Jamal Murray. Rivers' signing in Denver came after nearly a month without a roster spot following his release by the Oklahoma City Thunder. Oklahoma City had acquired Rivers from the New York Knicks in a three-team trade that included the Philadelphia 76ers.

In 15 regular season games (five starts), Rivers averaged 8.7 points for the Nuggets on 37.5% shooting on three-pointers. In the playoffs, Rivers started nine of Denver's 10 games and averaged 9.2 points on 41.3% shooting from behind the arc.

Rivers is expected to be a part of the Nuggets rotation again this season, as Murray continues to rehab from a torn ACL. Fellow guard Will Barton is also dealing with an ankle injury, which has opened up more time for Rivers.