Portland Trail Blazers Rumors: Jusuf Nurkic says don’t expect any trades

After an already breakneck start to the offseason for the Portland Trail Blazers, Jusuf Nurkic is telling fans not to expect too much more excitement.

With former head coach Terry Stotts gone and Chauncey Billups officially inked to replace him, it appears that the team will be running it back with their new play caller the only major addition.

In an interview in his homeland of Bosnia, Nurkic revealed that the team told him not to expect any major moves, according to Sports Illustrated.

"“As far as I am concerned, I was told that no one would be traded and that only the coach would change.”"

Is Chauncey Billups enough to improve the team?

After fans and media dissected general manager Neil Olshey’s season-exit presser, many came away with the impression that Olshey truly believed the roster was good enough to contend for a title and that the blame for the disappointing postseason exit rested solely on Stott’s shoulders.

Some hoped that Olshey was just throwing up smokescreens, but it’s becoming increasingly clear that the only player that might be moved is Damian Lillard—if he demands a trade.

There is still a chance that Nurkic mistook the sentiments he received following the first-round loss against the Denver Nuggets, or maybe Olshey just plans on stabbing a player in the back. There’s no reason to believe that if another team proposed a good enough deal that Olshey would remain resolute to his word.

For all intents and purposes though, it seems true that Olshey does believe the roster he’s built is of championship caliber.

If so, he expects a first-time head coach with one year’s experience as an assistant to take a first-round exit team further than Stott’s did.

He expects this knowing that Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum are in the midst of their primes and the twilight of their careers is on the horizon. He still expects this after hearing the Chris Haynes report about Lillard’s frustration with both the team and the backlash from the fans.

Olshey is willing to bet his job on a first-time head coach with basically zero experience. I would expect both he and Billups to start the new season on hot seats.