Rip City Project
Fansided

End-of-Season Awards: Portland Trail Blazers Edition

By Nate Mann

PORTLAND, OR - APRIL 10: The Portland Trail Blazers celebrate a win against the San Antonio Spurs on April 10, 2017 at the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Cameron Browne/NBAE via Getty Images)
PORTLAND, OR - APRIL 10: The Portland Trail Blazers celebrate a win against the San Antonio Spurs on April 10, 2017 at the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Cameron Browne/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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PORTLAND, OR – DECEMBER 7: Jusuf Nurkic #27 and Maurice Harkless #4 of the Portland Trail Blazers work out on the bike during an all access practice on December 7, 2017 at the Trail Blazer Practice Facility in Portland, Oregon. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Sam Forencich/NBAE via Getty Images)
PORTLAND, OR – DECEMBER 7: Jusuf Nurkic #27 and Maurice Harkless #4 of the Portland Trail Blazers work out on the bike during an all access practice on December 7, 2017 at the Trail Blazer Practice Facility in Portland, Oregon. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Sam Forencich/NBAE via Getty Images) /

Most Disappointing Player

Perhaps no Trail Blazers player had as much of a roller coaster season than Maurice Harkless. A potentially dynamic starting wing, Harkless was a no-show early in the season and then sat the bench for long stretches in December and January. His scoring and rebounding averages were both lower than his career averages, and then an untimely injury left him out of the lineup for the final nine games of the season and two games of the playoffs. Rip City certainly expected — and continues to expect — more from Harkless moving forward.

Although Moe helped Portland win this season, he regressed after a solid previous campaign. In the 2016-17 season, Harkless played 77 games, starting 69. He averaged 10 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 1.1 assists in 28.9 minutes played per game. This year, he regressed in all statistical categories. He played 59 games, starting 37, amassing 6.5 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 0.9 assists in 21.4 minutes played per game. Although Moe did deal with injuries , his performance is a disappointment when compared to last year.

It was either the Bosnian Beast or Evan Turner for this “award.” Turner’s monstrously unnecessary contract almost put him over the top for this one.

However, in a contract year, Nurkić’s performance took Rip City from “we need to do anything we can to retain the Beast this offseason” to “is he really going to be worth that money?” Nurkić didn’t have bad stats compared to his career in the league. But, he played in and started more games this year than he ever has. He averaged 15 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 assists in 20 games for Portland last season. He was only able to play 26 minutes per game this year and all of his stats went down. The Blazers were expecting a borderline 20/10 average from Nurkić, but his lack of filling the third “Big 3” roll was a huge indicator of what Portland needs to address this offseason.