The unexpected return of Jusuf Nurkic on March 15th has Portland Trail Blazers fans full of hope. This team could be playoff bound!
Jusuf Nurkic was meant to return in March, but an injury at training and then the subsequent delay of not being able to train with the team meant there was an uncertainty around his return to the Portland Trail Blazers. He was even avoiding media only a week ago as they tried to get a definitive answer out of him.
The main thing stopping him and the team from setting a date was the lack of practices to be able to assess his game readiness. The announcement of his return hopefully meant that he was assessed on court, and now he is ready to go. Nurk will return on the 15th of March against the Houston Rockets.
Proclaiming that this team is going to the playoffs may seem hasty, but the first thing to consider is that the presence of Nurk on court alone is enough to give this team a boost. His close relationship with Damian Lillard as well as his role as a leader within this team, means the team will have a natural uptick in performance just knowing that he is part of the rotation. He has such a strong presence in terms of his on court persona and the toughness and smarts that he adds.
His combination with Dame is also one of the reasons on the court, that this team was as good as they were in the 2018/19 season. When Nurk was traded to the Blazers in 2017, Dame took him under his wing. Taught him how to be a pro, helped him with his game and they flourished to the tune of 45 wins and 27 losses last season before Nurk was injured. Nurk was a big part of the reason this team made the western conference finals last season.
Not only are these two very close, they are also ultra-competitive. Dame averaged 34 points a game in January. There is no way he wants to miss the playoffs while he is at the peak of his powers. Having a top ten – fifteen center in the league coming off the bench for even 12 – 16 minutes a night will be massive for this team. We have touched on this recently, but it’s all the little things that Nurk does that will make this team better.
He doesn’t need to have all his athleticism or strength back straight away to do all these small things. Setting screens, passing out of the short roll or passing out of the post, offensive rebounding and getting to the line. On defense he has great positioning and some of the best hands as a big man, while also adding great defensive rebounding and boxing out.
Nurk will add so much in a small amount of minutes.
This team is a different beast with Nurk in tow. Dame came back with a bang against the Washington Wizards, while CJ McCollum continued his great form since the All-star break. The Blazers have one of the easiest finishes to the season alongside the New Orleans Pelicans, but will need to put away the weaker teams now with Dame back from injury.
This shouldn’t be a problem though. Playing the Phoenix Suns twice with the Sacramento Kings in the middle should be gimme games for this team. Trevor Ariza and Hassan Whiteside are in strong form on both ends, while the ever improving Gary Trent Jr gives this team a defensive presence it hasn’t had at the guard position for a number of years.
This team has 12 games against sub .500 opposition out of their last 19. If they win most of these while also beating a few of the other stronger teams, then they will make the playoffs. As a unit they are the strongest team sitting outside of the playoffs. Potential doesn’t mean anything on the court, but if all the key pieces are firing when Nurk returns, then this team is a playoff contender in the tier below the LA Clippers and Los Angeles Lakers.
It all starts on March 6th against the Suns, if they win these three games and go on a win-streak then they will put huge pressure on the Memphis Grizzlies who are in eighth and have mainly playoffs teams to face in their own race to the finish line.
This team with Nurk in it is more than strong enough to make the playoffs. They just need to be consistent on both ends, if they can do this, they will outrun the Grizzlies and Pelicans for the eight-seed.