Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum, and Jusuf Nurkic are the critical pieces to the Portland Trail Blazers’ success and could be the new NBA big three.
Remember when LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh took over the NBA and brought two NBA championships to the Miami Heat from 2010 to 2014? The Portland Trail Blazers have had stars on the team that could match-make a big three.
From LaMarcus Aldridge to Greg Oden and Brandon Roy. But, they never really seemed to click like the big three in Miami. The Trail Blazers may look to have a big three in development with its young talent and fast pace style of play. Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum, and Jusuf Nurkic have had to lead this team for the past couple of seasons, and it seems they may have the talent to carry this to an NBA title.
According to the stats on ESPN.com, the 2018-19 NBA season saw these three combine for 62.4 points, 19 rebounds, and 13.2 assists per game, and we watched as they carried the Portland Trail Blazers to the Western Conference Finals against the Golden State Warriors. Though Nurkic was one of the main reasons that they had such a great regular season, he, unfortunately, couldn’t be part of the playoff run.
With Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum leading the backcourt as one of the NBA’s dynamic duos and Nurkic leading the frontcourt on the boards and protecting the rim, this trio could maybe win a championship in 2020. However, injuries have played a factor as Nurkic missed the first half of the 2019-20 NBA season due to that injury he suffered last season against the Brooklyn Nets.
Lillard, McCollum, and Carmelo Anthony would lead the team as Hassan Whiteside filled in the gap that Nurkic left. After a disappointing first half with the team going 29-37 before the NBA postponed its regular season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Trail Blazers were hopeful that Nurkic would play his first game against the Memphis Grizzlies.
With the Blazers heading to Orlando after some much needed time off to play in the NBA restart, the big three could bring hope to an already damaged season.
With Lillard, McCollum, Nurkic leading the team against some tough opponents, like Kawhi Leonard and the Los Angeles Clippers, Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets, and a revival of the rivalry with Russell Westbrook and the Houston Rockets, the Trail Blazers have a legit shot at making it to the NBA playoffs.
They might even have a chance at the Larry O’Brien Trophy. Could we see the Portland Trail Blazer’s create a new big three and have the same success as the Miami Heat big three? We will find out on July 31st against the Memphis Grizzlies.