3 keys to unlocking the Portland Trail Blazers roster

3. Jusuf Nurkic should act more as an offensive hub

Jusuf Nurkic is an underrated, uniquely skilled center. He’s got great hands, a soft touch inside, is a fantastic positional defender, and an overlooked playmaker.

The Blazers were on the cusp of a revelation last year, as Nurkic averaged a career-high 3.4 helpers a night, not counting the eight games he played in 2019-2020.

For the most part though, Nurkic found those dimes within the flow of the offense. Former coach Terry Stotts failed to activate him as an inside-out facilitator.

His best role may be as a passer out of the short-roll, a la Draymond Green. The Blazers have a multitude of guards who can run a pick-and-roll and stroke threes off the bounce, specifically Damian Lillard.

As previously mentioned, Lillard was one of the most blitzed guards out of the PnR last year, meaning defenses constantly sent doubles at him using his primary defender and the man covering the screen. On those plays, Nurkic is left with a wide-open lane to either attack the rim or draw the defense in for an assist opportunity.

This action should be the focal point of the Blazers attack next season. Lillard has an infamously deep range, which will allow Portland to run picks plays farther from the rim, resulting in a massive amount of space for Nurkic to operate.

This will create a classic pickle for the defense. They can either continue to blitz Dame and leave Nurk open to rumble down the lane or collapse the defense for assists or they can try to chase Lillard down with one defender and hope he doesn’t drill a triple from 30+ feet out.

Running this action will take pressure off of Lillard to create for others, produce more off-ball scoring opportunities for him, give him the ability to reserve his energy for Dame Time, and add a new wrinkle to the offense.

This is the number one key to unlocking the Blazers roster’s fullest potential.