The Portland Trail Blazers Must Experiment like Mad Scientists Through the End of the Schedule

Everyone else…

Then, there’s everyone else on the roster. Their positional lives will not be affected by Nurkic’s absence, but he undoubtedly influenced how they played together.

To make any sort of conjecture over what the Blazers will do would be dishonest. I have absolutely no idea. However, I do have a couple of desires.

During this four-game road trip without CJ, Portland should look for someone to slot in there as a starter to tighten their chemistry alongside Dame. Right now, Jake Layman is not cutting it. I’d rather see Rodney Hood or Seth Curry get some reps, as they should more likely figure into crunch-time minutes going forward.

Even though it may be disastrous, I’d like to see Skal Labissiere get some run too. There’s a reason we have seen very little of him, but it may be worth it to plug him in occasionally just to see if they’ve got anything. He could be a versatile big man to help stretch the floor.

Lastly, I want to see less of Evan Turner. His minutes are down to about 12-18, rather than the 22-33 they were to begin the year. Still, past the first month and a half of the season, and especially since coming back from injury, he has looked lackluster as a playmaker and thrown some cringeworthy passes. Instead, I want to see Curry more often in this backup point guard role, especially as he has been rolling lately.

To be fair, my suggestions are moderate. However, I’d love to see Head Coach Terry Stotts and the Blazers get more creative in their experimentation. They should use their softer schedule to see if anything sticks before headed into the playoffs.