4 Teams that would be better fits for Blazers’ Jusuf Nurkic

It’s never easy to say goodbye to a franchise stalwart. Portland Trail Blazers fans have had to say goodbye to luminaries like Bill Walton, Clyde Drexler, and Brandon Roy in the past while bidding farewell to LaMarcus Aldridge, Nicolas Batum, and CJ McCollum in more recent years.

As Portland pivots to a new era of the franchise after nabbing the third overall pick, it may be time to say goodbye to Jusuf Nurkic.

After acquiring Nurkic and a first-round pick for Mason Plumlee and a second-rounder during the 2016-2017 season, Nurkic came off the bench for his first game in Portland and has started every game he’s played in since, playoffs or otherwise.

Across seven seasons with the Blazers, Nurkic has averaged 14 points, almost 10 rebounds, 3 assists, a steal, and a block as the poster boy for consistently good play.

Consistently good play on offense, however, has a limit to its utility, especially as Nurkic ages and his physical tools become less prominent. Nurk is a poor defender due to a lack of foot speed and instincts on that end of the floor.

Playing him at center has been a recipe for poor defense. Since the 2017-2018 season when the Blazers were sixth in defensive efficiency and the 2018-2019 season when they were 16th, the team hasn’t finished above 27th in that stat.

Not all of that can be heaped onto Nurkic’s shoulders, as Damian Lillard has worked through some injuries and the talent level of Portland’s roster has gone down since it made a Western Conference Finals run, but as his archetype of center, it takes a very narrow band of possible team constructions to get the most out of him.

That doesn’t mean, however, that he has no more use in the NBA. Nurkic is only 28 years old and has three years left on his contract. For another team in the NBA that needs a burly scoring center, Nurkic could be the perfect fit as the Blazers go in a different direction.

In particular, there are four franchises that, if he becomes available via trade, could have their eyes on Portland’s big man and could send the Blazers something of value in return.

Jusuf Nurkic New Home #1: Chicago Bulls

The Bulls are a team that, like the Trail Blazers, have been eager to contend for a title, yet have fallen short each of the past few years. They sprinted out to a great record in the East last year before the All-Star break behind a pair of virtuoso performances from DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine, but since last February, the team has limped to a 48-57 record in the regular season.

The Bulls find themselves at a critical juncture, as they needed their lottery pick (which now belongs to Orlando as part of the Nikola Vucevic trade) and have limited options to improve their team. To make matters more taxing, Vucevic is an unrestricted free agent and could price himself out of the team’s range, leaving them with a massive hole in the middle of their lineup.

If Chicago wants to shore up the center spot for the foreseeable future without breaking the bank, it could acquire a younger, cheaper, and more athletic center in Nurkic.

Nurk is used to being the third banana on a team after his time with Lillard and McCollum and could provide the Bulls with the back-line help they need on offense.

For the Blazers, a trade with Chicago could scale in a variety of ways. Add more salary and sound players, and the team could acquire LaVine or DeRozan. If they covet a young forward like Pat Williams, they could throw in this year’s 23rd overall pick.

Or, if they simply want to swap one player for another, they could snag a defensive demon like Alex Caruso:

While it wouldn’t help fill the center spot, adding a player like Caruso would help the Blazers get closer to contending for the playoffs. His defense, energy, and ball-handling are all good enough to make him a key player or sixth man off of the bench.

Pairing Shaedon Sharpe or Anfernee Simons with a stopper like Caruso could open up their games and do wonders for the team’s chances in the non-Lillard minutes, which is exactly what they need to return to the postseason.

Jusuf Nurkic New Home #2: Dallas Mavericks

Only an offseason ago, the Mavericks were dreaming about adding the final piece to a puzzle that seemed to show a championship future surrounding a young Luka Doncic. They’d just knocked off the dominant Phoenix Suns and lost to the eventual champion Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference Finals, giving their team a lot of confidence for the next year.

By and large, Dallas slumped out of the gates and never found its footing, hovering around .500 for most of the season, even after they swung for the fences and acquired Kyrie Irving from the floundering Brooklyn Nets at the trade deadline.

With Doncic and Irving (hopefully for the Mavs) in tow, the team likely feels better about the playoffs, but still needs a few pieces.

That’s where Nurkic comes in. The Mavericks started Dwight Powell at center for most of the season, and while Powell is a good player, he isn’t the bruising enforcer on both ends like Nurkic.

There’s the added bonus of a cheaper, team-controlled contract for Nurkic, alongside the fact that he’s played next to two ball-dominant players in Portland and won’t have to adjust much.

Again, this trade doesn’t rope in a new starting center for the Blazers, but few good trades, if any, for Nurkic will do so. Instead, the Blazers continue to add proven role players who can help them in their future playoff push. Nabbing a player like Tim Hardaway Jr. or Reggie Bullock fits right into the team’s price range and fills their need for wing shooting:

Either Hardaway Jr. or Bullock would likely play major minutes on the wing for next year’s Blazers, who are eager to take a step forward and make some noise in the West. While they aren’t the second star that the team needs to pair with Lillard, both players would help the team improve on the margins and get one step closer to the postseason.

Jusuf Nurkic New Home #3: Oklahoma City Thunder

As some teams start to crumble after the 2010s, others will rise in each conference during the 2020s. We may have just seen the first peak at a potential powerhouse in the West with the late push from the Oklahoma City Thunder, who were led by All-NBA First Team member Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on the way to a play-in berth.

Off of the strength of the 13th-best defensive efficiency in the NBA this year, the Thunder – sans Chet Holmgren – stormed past their preseason projections and almost made it to the NBA playoffs. They had a great young core full of tenacious players like Josh Giddey and Jalen Williams and may be looking to keep the momentum going next year.

If they are, adding a burly center to the mix may be the right move. Holmgren’s entrance into the NBA should make them better, but expecting him to hold up at center is asking for trouble. Instead, pairing him with Nurkic in his prime allows Holmgren to avoid the heat of physicality while covering for Nurkic’s defensive lapses.

The Blazers could try to pry rookie center Jaylin Williams from the Thunder, given he started a number of games for them this year, but the better swing should be for some of the wings in Oklahoma City that are now expendable.

Either Lu Dort or Kenrich Williams, if not both, are players who fit a need for Portland as perimeter players who can hit shots and lock up on defense:

The bane of the Blazers over the past few seasons has been their defense, and adding either Dort or Williams would help to shore up that end of the floor. Plus, neither player will demand shots and instead will work as glue guys, an important role that Portland traded away when they moved Josh Hart at the trade deadline.

Jusuf Nurkic New Home #4: San Antonio Spurs

On the surface, the fit in this trade is a bit confusing: why would a team that just won the draft lottery to acquire a generational 7-foot-5 player want to trade for a center?

While the conventions of the basketball of yore may dissuade teams from this approach, the Spurs may look to buck old trends and opt for a similar approach that the Thunder took in their consideration of Nurkic.

While Victor Wembanyama is a terrifyingly long defender who also dominates in and out of the paint, he’s quite thin by NBA standards and would face a brutal amount of physical punishment trying to match up with players like Nurkic, Joel Embiid, or even Jarrett Allen.

Pairing him with a big who could take the heat off of him would benefit Wembanyama.

Nurkic is built to score on the inside and out-muscle players for rebounds, but he also has a nifty knack for pocket passes out of the high post or off of hand-offs. Playing him next to Wembanyama could unlock a great big-to-big passing game that could help San Antonio insulate its future star from punishment and reach his ceiling sooner.

In this scenario, the Blazers would have the option of shoring up their center spot with an old friend or acquiring a talented young wing player. Zach Collins is a bit of a dirty word in some Portland circles, but he flashed toward the end of the season with the Spurs.

Even though it may require the 23rd pick, acquiring Keldon Johnson could be the answer to the team’s woes on the wing:

If the Spurs believe in both Jeremy Sochan and Devin Vassell as future starters, they’ll need to one day move Johnson. For the Blazers, the chance to grab a good defensive wing player who is only 23 would be a major coup.

He probably doesn’t have the upside to be the second star next to Lillard, but pairing Johnson with Sharpe should give Portland its best wing duo in a long time. That combo could be just what the team needs to return to the postseason and make some noise.