The Portland Trail Blazers traded Mason Plumlee to the Denver Nuggets for Jusuf Nurkic in 2017. Looking back, how did this trade work out for both teams?
On February 13, 2017 the Portland Trail Blazers traded Mason Plumlee to the Denver Nuggets for Jusuf Nurkic. There were other components to this deal, but the gist of it was, Neil Olshey got a franchise center and a first round pick for someone in Plumlee, who was only going to be a backup in the future. This trade was a masterstroke.
Sources: Blazers trade Mason Plumlee to Nuggets for Jusuf Nurkic. @WojVerticalNBA report on @TheVertical. https://t.co/XBhyY6GvW9 pic.twitter.com/SiSzVQ6yCa
— Ball Don’t Lie (@Balldontlie) February 12, 2017
At the time of the trade, Plumlee was a good starting center for the Blazers. He had averaged 11 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists in the 54 games he started that season. But as Olshey predicted, not only were centers like Plumlee going out of fashion, he realised that Plumlee wasn’t the future for this team.
Plumlee was a starting level center in the NBA, but the league was going away from big men. Especially ones that coudn’t defend or shoot threes.
Nurkic was stuck behind Nikola Jokic on the Nuggets, and wasn’t that happy about it. Whether or not the rumours about him being a bad locker room presence were true, he was clearly better than the 17 minutes a night he was getting. He was drafted to be the main guy on the Nuggets, but injuries and then the development of Jokic meant that he was on the outer.
He knew he was better than a backup and this trade by Olshey was going to let him prove it. This trade saved the season for the Blazers. They went 14 and 6 in the 20 games that Nurk played after the trade. Unfortunately, a leg injury meant he couldn’t play a role in the playoffs, but at just 22 years of age he was an instant hit with the fans and a beast on the court.
3 years on he has had two more excellent seasons and unfortunately missed one with the terrible leg injury. But he has been awesome for this team on both ends.
Add in that the Blazers only give up a very low second-round-pick, the 54th selection. Then they also got back a first-round-pick that ended up being the number 20 selection. They used their own first-round selection in Justin Jackson and this pick to trade up for Zach Collins.
Nurkic is a franchise center, and one of the best traditional centers in the league. He can defend on the perimeter and in the post. He can pass from the elbow or from the post. He is one of the best rebounders in the league. He can post-up and he can shoot.
After seeing some warmup videos before the NBA hiatus, it also looks like he may be now shooting threes. Nurk is a keeper, and the pick they got to help get Collins is just as valuable.
For the Denver Nuggets, they needed a backup center that would be content with his role, someone that could rebound and pass. They got that in Plumlee. There was no way that Nurkic could blossom like this while you have the best passing big man in NBA history as your starting center.
They had to move Nurkic. The first-round-pick is probably what hurts more. But at the time, Plumlee’s value was higher so this was what they had to give up to get off Nurkic and get a backup center in return.
Another small wrinkle is that the Blazers would have to paid Plumlee the next summer, where as Nurkic had a whole extra year before he needed a new contract. Ironically, they ended up getting paid similar amounts due to Olshey’s superior negotiating skills.
This trade was franchise altering for the Blazers, and ho-hum for the Nuggets.