Keeler: Nuggets’ Michael Porter Jr. is untradeable? Untouchable? ‘Completely false,’ Josh Kroenke says.

You’d move a kidney stone with less pain than it would take to move Michael Porter Jr’s contract. Still, Josh Kroenke insists that MPJ is AFS.

As in, Available For Sale.

At least, that’s what Kroenke said Monday when I asked him about a report claiming the owners of the Nuggets were unwilling to move their talented but mercurial forward — supposedly because Josh and Michael Porter Jr. both happened to hoop it up at the University of Missouri.

M-I-Z, Tigers For Life. Keep the colors flying skyward and all that.

“You know, I did see that somewhere,” Kroenke, the Nuggets’ president, said of the MPJ kerfuffle. “And if it wasn’t such a serious accusation, I would probably laugh a little harder.”

Yeah, but that max deal …

“I think that any kind of report saying that we’re not open to trading everybody, you know, possible to improve the team,” Kroenke continued, “is a complete falsehood.”

Great, so what would it take to …

“And the other thing that I’ll say is, I don’t know where that person got their sources from,” Kroenke said. “But I’m surely not going to be greenlighting any trades around here when I don’t see complete organizational cohesion and we’re not maximizing the group we got.”

There it is!

Not to rain on social media’s parade, but I’ll believe the Kroenkes are “quitting” MPJ when I see it. They love the dude. They love the shot. They love the narrative.

“Let’s talk about him on a human level and what he’s been through,” Kroenke stressed. “I mean, several back surgeries, being told he was never going to play again … slipping in the NBA draft to a place where we were privileged enough to take a player that talented, then working through the setbacks that he’s had, not only on the court with his back, but off the court in his personal life as well.”

On a strictly personal level, MPJ has a good soul. He’s also had some tough, tough stuff land on his plate. On the occasions when the young man decides to get inside his own head, he’s prone to vanishing spells. Porter’s at his best when he’s not busy being his own worst enemy.

The ex-Mizzou standout’s also played an average of 16 more regular-season games over the last two years (158) than Jamal Murray (126) has. Even if you had no idea what kind of stat line MPJ had coming on a given night, when the Nuggets needed him at the startling line, he’s usually been there.

And by golly, whether you like it or not, they need him. Right here. Right now. When MPJ’s put up 17 points or more over the last two postseason runs, the Nuggets are 8-3. When he’s held to single digits, they’re 5-4. A playoff coin flip.

The Lakers last spring were so preoccupied with not getting a Blue Arrow through the heart again, they were happy to let MPJ try and beat them. He obliged, averaging 22.8 points and 8.4 boards and draining 48.8% of his treys. Porter looked very much like a max contract player doing max things at max moments.

Unfortunately for — well, for all of us — Minnesota saw the tape from the first round. The Timberwolves got in Porter’s face from the jump to see how he liked a change in temperature. The results were decidedly lukewarm: 10.7 points and 5.7 rebounds per game, 32.5% from beyond the arc, and a whopping 25 points, combined, in Games 4-7

The Nuggets blew the largest Game 7 lead in franchise history, the Wolves stole their mojo the way Gollum stole Frodo Baggins’ ring, and things around Chopper Circle have felt a little disjointed ever since.

“I think we have to be open-minded toward everything,” Kroenke continued. “(That’s) player trades, seeing value in the draft where others might not, or perhaps finding a skill set that fits with our roster in a way that other people might not see. And so we’ve got to be open-minded on all fronts.”

They can start with the frontcourt. Porter’s carrying a cap hit of $35.86 million. It goes up to $38.33 million next season, then to $40.806 million in ’26-27.  “Open-minded” isn’t going to be any easier nine months from now.

“So I need to be aware of what’s out there, how to make this team better in all facets,” Kroenke said. “And so back to my main message: (This) season’s not over yet. But once the season is over, I think we’re going to be as open-minded as we’ve ever been about everything.”

Alas, the NBA isn’t just a business. It’s a cruel one, as cutthroat as they come.

Kroenke was a millionaire willingly falling on several swords Monday, a rare trait for the owner class. But at the same time, Josh fessed up to maybe his greatest weakness as a pro sports CEO: letting relationships and friendships cloud his judgment.

That last part is why he said he didn’t have the heart to can either coach Michael Malone or Calvin Booth last fall, even though everybody in a 50-mile radius knew that relationship had turned toxic. And also why he didn’t do it at the All-Star break, even though the Nuggets were getting fat off the dregs of the league while routinely getting their teeth kicked in by the likes of the Thunder and Cavaliers.

And it’s why Kroenke still wants to “maximize” the “group he’s got,” even though that already happened two years ago — and there’s no getting that same mojo back with the pieces you’ve surrounded Nikola Jokic with. Penuriousness may land David Adelman Malone’s old job on a full-time basis, whether the Nuggets’ performances warrant it or not. The affection for MPJ is as much about sentiment as anything else.

That’s not how you build a dynasty. It’s how you build the Rockies.

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