Portland Trail Blazers: 3 reasons Jusuf Nurkic contract is a good one

The Portland Trail Blazers have made some interesting moves this offseason, but one of the better ones was bringing back Jusuf Nurkic.

The Portland Trail Blazers let backup center, Ed Davis, walk in free agency. They also decided to move on from Shabazz Napier and Pat Connaughton. Portland added a guard, Nik Stauskas, to a minimum contract. It also added Seth Curry to a two year, $5.6 million deal.

The Blazers tendered Jusuf Nurkic a qualifying offer before July, making him a restricted free agent this offseason and giving the team the right to match any offer he was presented from another team.

Nurkic has played a total of 99 games for Portland. In those 99 games, he’s averaged 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.

The Blazers traded for Nurkic back at the 2017 trade deadline, and he has been a vital part of the team’s success. Nurkic became the team’s defensive anchor and sometimes a go-to option on offense. He has shown flashes of All-Star potential, but needs to learn to become more consistent in his play.

Many believed the Blazers front office would let Nurkic attempt to find an offer sheet and if he didn’t, he then would play on his one-year qualifying offer, becoming an unrestricted free agent next summer. Not many teams had cap space this summer, or a need for centers. Instead, according to ESPN‘s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Blazers and Nurkic agreed to a four-year, $48 million deal.

The Bosnian Beast has played four seasons in the NBA and is still only 23. The Blazers could not let Nurkic walk for nothing, either this summer or next. He has been up and down in his play since arriving in Rip City. Regardless, it was a smart move for the Blazers to bring him back, and here are some reasons why.