Portland Trail Blazers: Jusuf Nurkic needs to end the season strong
By Ty Delbridge
Free agency looms for Nurkic and the Blazers
The Blazes decided not to offer Nurkic a contract extension at the start of the season because they wanted to see a bigger sample size than 20 games. There were still some questions if he can stay healthy and if he can play at a consistent rate.
It was smart for the Blazers to be patient with Nurkic instead of getting overly excited and throwing a ton of money at a young center with potential.
The Blazers can offer Nurkic a one-year, $4.1 million qualifying offer after this season. If Nurkic signs it, he would return for the 2018-19 season on that salary. He then would be an unrestricted free agent the following summer.
Sources: Portland's Jusuf Nurkic plans on restricted free agency next summer with Blazers, barring major shift, with no extension offer made.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) October 13, 2017
If he does not sign the qualifying offer, he will be a restricted free agent. The Blazers would have the right to match any offer that another team gives him. If a team does give Nurkic a deal, the Blazers would have a tough choice to make. They could either pay Nurkic more than they wanted to by matching or let him go for nothing in return.
In the past, Portland has shown to be aggressive when retaining young talent on its roster. It matched an offer sheet back in 2012 that the Minnesota Timberwolves gave Nicolas Batum and most recently they matched a $75 million offer sheet that the Brooklyn Nets gave Allen Crabbe.
Players who are young and have a promising potential like Nurkic don’t usually take a one-year qualifying offer right away. They like to bet on themselves, go out in free agency and try to get a big offer sheet from another team.
This summer’s free agent market is flooded with big guys. I’m not sure how many teams in today’s league are searching for a back-to-the-basket center who can’t space the floor that well. If Nurkic can’t find an offer he likes, he will probably take the qualifying offer and try again next summer.