There’s no shortage of material for Michael Porter Jr.’s journal.

A nine-day break between the Nuggets’ sweep of the Lakers and Thursday’s Game 1 of the NBA Finals has provided plenty of time for ruminations. It’s also provided ample time for satisfaction to set in, something Denver’s sharpshooting starting small forward is trying to avoid.

“I try to do gratefulness journaling and just reflect during this journey on all the things there are to be grateful for, but at the same time just stay hungry, keep working, never let up,” Porter said Monday. “At the same time, you’ve got to take moments to reflect, I think. That makes it worth it.”

It has been a journey. Porter was a prodigious talent ranked No. 1 by Rivals. com in the high school Class of 2017. He had his pick of colleges but chose Missouri, returning to his hometown, Columbia, after playing his senior year of prep basketball for former NBA player Brandon Roy at Seattle’s Nathan Hale.

“He called me the other day and he pretty much was just criticizing everything that I was doing,” Porter said with a laugh. “I think he’s jealous.”

There’s plenty for Roy to be envious of when it comes to Porter. Both players had their careers threatened by injury. After winning Rookie of the Year in 2007, Roy endured six knee surgeries before realizing there was no fix for a lack of cartilage. The three-time All-Star’s career came to a premature end after the 2012-13 season. Porter’s made an impressive comeback from three back surgeries, the first of which derailed his only college season. Two more have been needed since the Nuggets drafted him with the 14th pick of the 2018 draft.

“I feel good at this point. There are some things that I’m doing different this time around to try to just keep my back in check and everything,” Porter said. “But … it could get taken away from anybody any day, so really just trying to stay in the moment and take it day by day and do my work every day and leave the rest up to God, for real.”

Porter’s return after he missed nearly all of the 2021-22 season after the third operation has been pivotal. He maintained one of basketball’s prettiest and purest 3-point shots — 41.4% this season on 7.3 attempts per game, and eight rebounds per game in this playoff run, while coming back an improved defender.

“This was by far his best season as an NBA player,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “The commitment he made to being the best defensive player he could be and buying into that end was definitely evident early on, as well as was his commitment to being the best offensive player he could be and playing without the ball and moving without the ball and spacing the floor.”

The presence of the 6-foot-10 Porter has made the puzzle of Denver’s offense even harder to solve. When the Lakers put the 6-foot-5 Austin Reaves on him, Porter had no problem shooting over ineffective contests. He scored 14 or more points in each of the four games against the Lakers and grabbed 10 rebounds in three of those games. It’s another step in the right direction for Porter, but satisfaction hasn’t set in. He disagreed with the notion that he had much to be proud about this season.

“I don’t really look at myself like I’ve really made humongous leaps in any area. I still have a long ways to go,” Porter said. “I appreciate when people say that, but I definitely have a long way to go and a long way that I know that I can reach. I wouldn’t really say that I look at anything from the past year and am excited about it. I just keep trying to get better every day.”

Part of that is staying in the gym during the long layoff. Another is internal reflection to provide a balance that’s benefiting his team.

“First and foremost with Michael being physically healthy, I think that is giving him the mental confidence to go out there and play the game at a high level,” Malone said.

“I think the series he had against the Lakers, just the scoring, the rebounding, the efficiency was a huge part of us sweeping L.A. in that Western Conference finals. But he’s in a very good place right now. He’s confident. He’s really bought into trying to become the best player he can be on both ends of the floor.”

Either way, the Finals will provide plenty of material for the journal.