Portland Trail Blazers Roundtable: Midseason Review

What Has the Biggest Surprise This Season?

Ashlin: I already mentioned McCollum’s struggles in my last answer. Outside of McCollum, the rise of Jusuf Nurkic has taken me by surprise. I expected him to be a good starting center, but he has played like an All-Star during the past couple of weeks. If he can keep up this level of play, the Blazers are suddenly much more intimidating.

Patrick: For me, Jusuf Nurkic’s emergence. Last year, the season following Nurk-fever, the Bosnian Beast looked like he was just an average, inconsistent starting center. Now, he’s blossoming into a secondary star of sorts, and may actually be a better second-option than McCollum right now. Where I thought he may truly level out to be this type of “fine/meh” player this season, he is having a career year.

Gutbrod: CJ’s inconsistency has been the biggest surprise for me. I don’t think anyone could have predicted his three-point shooting would drop as much as it has this season. Thankfully CJ has remained highly effective from mid-range, keeping his scoring from diminishing.

The fact that the Blazers are at 24-17 halfway through the season without CJ playing his best basketball is a testament to the strong play of others such as Damian Lillard and Jusuf Nurkic. If CJ can get dialed in on a more consistent basis, Portland may finally be able to take the next step in the post-season.

Moore: Jake Layman. He’s started 20 games this season, and his numbers are up across the board. I think Rip City expected Layman to take up space at the end of the bench again this season, but he’s proven himself to be a valuable contributor.

Piper: My biggest surprise so far has been the inconsistent play of CJ. I mean yeah we know he’s not going to play a lot of defense or rack up very many assists, but I at least expect him to be a somewhat consistent shooter/scorer. Especially as of late, though, he has been very inconsistent. Bonus: over the past several games my biggest surprise has been Nurkic.