The Trail Blazers should resist the temptation to spend big on free agent center Jusuf Nurkic, writes Dan Favale of Bleacher Report. Portland is already in a dicey cap situation with more than $110MM committed for next season and little relief coming until the summer of 2020.
Favale’s advice is to re-sign free agent Ed Davis, who earned $6.35MM this season and should have a much smaller price tag than Nurkic. He adds that the Blazers can form an effective center combination with Davis and rookie Zach Collins without plunging themselves into luxury tax territory.
There’s more from the Northwest Division:
- Paul George got nearly all A’s in his first season with the Thunder from Berry Tramel of The Oklahoman. George received high marks for deportment, stamina, defense and 3-point shooting, but only a D in ball security and a C for his performance in the playoffs. George was outstanding against the Jazz in Games 1 and 5, but shot a disastrous 2-of-16 with six turnovers as OKC was eliminated in Game 6.
- The Jazz will be looking for another scorer this summer to complement Donovan Mitchell, writes Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune. Utah could have $17MM to spend, depending on what it does with free agent Derrick Favors and the non-guaranteed contracts of Thabo Sefolosha, Ekpe Udoh and Jonas Jerebko.
- Elijah Bryant of Brigham Young, who worked out for the Jazz today, is trying to prove he can carve out a place in the NBA, relays Kyle Goon of The Salt Lake Tribune. The Cougars’ leading scorer last season, Bryant is considered a long shot to be drafted but left school a year early because he wants to get started on a pro career at age 23. The first step is matching up with higher-regarded prospects at workouts. “So you come into a situation like that and you’re used to being the main guy on the team, but now everyone’s playing well, right?” Bryant said. “So I think being assertive and being able to communicate on this level is a different thing than being at BYU. Being able to show you’re in shape and show you can hit shots when you’re tired. Those are things that I’ve been able to show throughout this process.”
Nurkic is garbage.
he isn’t garbage. During the regular season he is fine, but during the playoffs he just doesn’t fit what the modern NBA is looking for in a big man.
He’s not worth what Portland will have to pay him. I really thought he was going to be a potential top 5 big remembering his 36 and 20 performance last season. He was an absolutely joke this season,14 and 9? No way I pay him.
14/9 in just 26mpg. His per 36 numbers are 19/12 w/ 1.9 bpg and 1.1spg.
Is he worth 110mil? I don’t think so. Is he garbage like you said? Absolutely not. The only thing garbage here in you scouting a stat line and not even understanding THAT properly.
I perfectly understand it and I know the dude is still young, I just don’t see the point in paying him an insane amount of money if he’s not going to be an all-star. Had he played up to his potential he could have been an all-star. No lie I expected him to average at least 17-18 ppg with 10-13 rpg this season, but even with the featured role he couldn’t do it.
Are any free agents worth what they get paid though?
I agree with lucky lefty. Nurkic is good during the regular season but disappears in the post season. Use the money elsewhere.
Everyone seems to think Nurkic is going to be offered so much more than Davis but the Blazers should be prepared for that NOT being the case.
How about a valuation, people?
This writer is saying what we all agreed to 3 weeks ago… let nurkic go and have the Blazers find another way to man the center position which includes the guys they’ve already got like ed Davis and Collins. We figured this out long time ago pal.
You must feel special.
“We” feel special.
Please edit your post… the trade compensation you mentioned above for the Blazers is wrong… They received a first rounder from Denver, didn’t give one up which led to selecting Zach Collins. This made your comment of a “high price to acquire Nurkic” just plain wrong.
What’s with the saucy nerds tonight?
John Collins was drafted by the Kings and traded to Blazers for Justin Jackson and Giles. And the article was correct about the trade.
How do you think the Blazers got the 2nd first round pick to pull off this trade?? Oh yeah, the the first rounder they received from the Jusuf Nurkic trade. Again, the poster was wrong.
Must admit after all is said I have to agree with Dionis that I expected much more from Nurkic, the guy can be a beast but his numbers are very average, is been a disappointment to see him. Looking back I would had kept Mason Plumlee, I think is better than Nurkic. More energy, fight & passing ability.
Everyone was hoping for more from Nurkic. What would your offer be to keep him? It may be the winning offer. Plenty of centers around, more in the draft.
MLE seems right to me… if not let him walk
MLE seems right to me… if not let him walk
MLE is too low for Nurk, he’s not going to agree to that. I think throwing six figures would be crazy, but getting something similar to JV from the Raps ($15M/yr) over three seems reasonable.
I don’t think Portland should be the team to pay him, I would keep Davis, develop Collins, and try to deal CJ to rework the team.
The Oklahoma writer will likely change his grade to “F” after PG stabs them in the back and leaves for LA. He had surgery….not in OKC…..in LA. His article was a weak attempt to keep the choker from leaving. Tragic Johnson….give him max $…blow your salary cap on this choker.
He fits the East not the west. He isn’t dominant offensively. He isn’t a stretch 5. He isn’t dominant defensively. Basically a Tyler Zeller type or Mason Plumlee contract should be his max value.
The Blazers should not re-sign him. No matter how much potential he has, you don’t pay someone based off potential. After re-signing every RFA last year, the Blazers can’t make the same mistake again on an incomplete player. Luxury tax is obviously a concern considering they scrambled to get back under the tax with the Crabbe trade. Nurkic just isn’t the guy you start the tax clock with. If they can clear some space to add a guy like Cousins or even try a trade for Kawhi, that’d be a way better way to spend assets and Paul Allen’s money. But please for the love of God and every Blazers fan bring back Ed Davis. He’s the biggest reason they got the 3rd seed imo, when him and Zach Collins entered the game they’d often build leads and destroy other teams bench units in rebounding. Bring that back, not Nurk’s inconsistent mid range and missing layups.
Sounds good, with regards to the tax issue. Basically, sorry no offer. Even with no raises for Davis, Napier & Connoton, Blazers are at the tax line.
But you also mentioned the reason Davis looks so good vs Nurkic– the competition. The team will be weaker.
Definitely. It’s like, this worked out terribly for us last summer, and sorry but we can’t do that again. I think Napier and Connaughton are gone for sure. I think they’ll definitely bring back Wade Baldwin on a cheap deal to take Napier’s place. Then they’d need a shooter to replace Connaughton, or they could bring him back and not break the bank.
And definitely. Ed Davis held down that bench unit and leads could easily slip if the bench isn’t consistent. Plus he did wonders for the development of Zach Collins. Nurk always seemed like a hothead too, getting distracted and trying to beef with LeBron on the court while Dame tells him to calm down and stop. He’s a high maintenance guy for sure and lets his emotions get in the way of playing. He himself said Dame’s leadership is essential to him so he doesn’t get down on himself and just play. Ed Davis needs no maintenance, and he’ll go out and play hard every game guaranteed.