Yahoo: Blazers open to moving Nurkic, Hart to build ‘playoff contender’

Per Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports, the Portland Trail Blazers are still committed to re-tooling around Damian Lillard – not to be confused with rebuilding – and are open to discussing a majority of players on their roster.

Most notably, Fischer said Portland is considering deals involving Jusuf Nurkic and Josh Hart. Hart, acquired in the CJ McCollum trade at last year’s deadline, has reportedly become a hot commodity around the league as teams expect him to decline his $12.9 million player option for next season.

The Portland Trail Blazers are looking for size, athleticism, shooting, and wing defenders

Fischer reported the Blazers are in search of…well, everything, apparently. And also everything all 29 other NBA teams are interested in.

Specifically, he said Portland has “an eye toward size with athleticism, plus wing-shooting defenders.”

As an injury-prone, plodding 7-footer, Nurkic seemingly has one foot out the door anyway. The sticking point in any deal for the Blazers’ center is his contract.

Nurk is on the hook for three more seasons with his salary increasing to more than $19 million in 2025-26 when he’ll be in his early 30s.

All things considered, the former first-round pick isn’t the most attractive asset to other teams.

Hart has more value, though, especially to contenders. He’s a strong wing defender and is one of the league’s best rebounding guards – in fact, he’s the Blazers second-leading rebounder behind Nurkic.

And despite his apparent lack of willingness to let it fly this season, he’s a decent enough 3-point shooter to make teams honor him outside.

If Hart does decline his player option as NBA teams seem to think, he’s also an expiring contract, which makes him even more appealing to teams aiming for a title this season.

The confusing part is here Portland’s desire to continue to build a playoff team around Dame by trading two starters. Granted, Hart and Nurkic aren’t exactly high-level starters, but what are the Blazers getting in return that’s going to put them solidly in playoff contention this year while simultaneously making them better in the future?

It seems like trading Nurkic and Hart for players who can help “build a playoff contender” is a sideways move.