Jusuf Nurkic: 3 potential landing spots in 2018 free agency

Jusuf Nurkic will most likely be back with Portland Trail Blazers for at least one more season. But if he were to leave Portland this summer, there are some interesting destinations out there for him.

Jusuf Nurkic is a 23-year-old center who has shown plenty of potential in his four seasons in the league. He is hitting the market this summer as a restricted free agent. He was traded to the Portland Trail Blazers at the 2017 trade deadline and has been a good player since joining RipCity.

Since joining Rip City, Nurkic is averaging 14.5 points, 9.2 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.5 blocks in 27 minutes per game while shooting 50.5 percent from the field and 63.8 percent from the free throw line. He has been the anchor of the Blazers defense and helped turned them into a top-10 defensive team last season.

It was reported by ESPN‘s Adrian Wojnarowski that the Blazers did tender Nurkic his qualifying offer to make him a restricted free agent. The Blazers will have three days to match any offer sheet he receives from another team.

Portland is currently over the cap and is not in a position to let skilled players like Nurkic walk out their door for nothing. Still, he is a young player with tons of promise, and some team might try to get him away from the Blazers by giving him more money than they are willing to match. Here are three teams that could have their laser on Nurkic this July.