Portland Trail Blazers: What Jusuf Nurkic signing with Rich Paul means

During his time with the Portland Trail Blazers, Jusuf Nurkic has exceeded all expectations. But what can expect now that he has signed with Rich Paul?

Notorious sports personality, ambitious founder of Klutch Sports Group, and potential future headache for the Portland Trail Blazers. Rich Paul is a man of many faces, and he has now been thrust into the long-term picture for the Trail Blazers organization.

Portland’s star center Jusuf Nurkic has recently made the decision to sign with Paul and become a member of the controversial posse of players represented by Klutch Sports. He joins other NBA superstars such as LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Ben Simmons, and plenty others.

Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports was the first to break this news.

Rich Paul was recently the subject of much debate in the basketball world, as the NCAA instated a rule requiring all agents to have a college degree and certification to have any clients at the collegiate level.

This seemed to exclusively target and exclude Paul, who worked his way up the ladder after becoming close friends with LeBron — in spite of the fact he never went to college. After the ‘Rich Paul Rule’ met a strong backlash on social media and across the basketball community in general, the NCAA quickly redacted their decision.

Over time, Klutch Sports has become notorious for their pack mentality. Four of Paul’s clients now play for the Lakers. Three of Paul’s clients are engrossed in contracts with LeBron’s former team, the Cleveland Cavaliers. The organization even hosts their own Klutch Sports Pro Day, where scouts can come watch draft prospects put their skills on display.

This strong sense of community should be a tad worrisome for Portland, as Nurkic has proven to be a vital piece in the Blazers’ championship chase. Losing him could have long-term residual effects and potentially mean Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum‘s athletic primes are wasted.

But if there’s anything to worry about, it should be his price tag. Paul has recently foregone selling his clients on joining LeBron, but instead done everything in their power to ensure they get paid the big bucks. Paul has used his negotiating power to secure huge deals for players like Simmons, John Wall, and Draymond Green.

What do they all have in common here? They re-signed with their current team.

That should be good news. As fans, we can depend on Nurkic’s new agent on doing everything in his power to make sure the Bosnian Beast remains with his current team, because that’s where the most money is at.

Nurkic is under contract with the Portland Trail Blazers through the 2021-22 season. He will be 28-years-old when he hits free agency, in his prime and looking to secure the biggest contract of his career. Here’s the catch, Portland is already on the hook for $80 million between the pair of Lillard and McCollum when Nurkic is due to be re-signed.

With the NBA’s cap room projected to be at $132.5 million that summer, a max contract for Nurkic would equate to 30 percent of the entire available cap space — or $39.75 million. Paying Portland’s core three players that much money would use up over 90 percent of their entire available cap space, leaving no room to pay promising young players like Zach Collins and Anfernee Simons.

It should go without saying, but a team constructed like that could never possibly compete for a championship. Then again, this Blazers team without Nurkic probably can’t either.

If the Portland Trail Blazers are to seriously contend in the future, here’s to hoping Nurkic bites the bullet and takes a considerable pay cut like his teammate McCollum has — regardless of what Rich Paul has to say about it.