Jusuf Nurkic’s development on the Portland Trail Blazers has placed his hat in the discussion to be among the top 10 centers in the NBA right now.
Jusuf Nurkic has gone through a transformation, making the Portland Trail Blazers‘ seven-footer a product of the evolution of the center position in modern NBA basketball.
There was a time only a few short seasons ago when the public had this consensus that the center position was going extinct. Gone were the days of back-to-the-basket dominant bigs at the 5, as the league as a whole moved toward more perimeter shooting and stretching the floor.
As a result, the men down low veered further and further away from their traditional stomping ground around the rim in exchange for more mid-range and 3-point attacks. Along with it came more of a facilitating role for centers, along with a new generation entering the league with ball-handling and all-around skills never before seen in the game.
It proved not to be the extinction of a position within the game, but rather the evolution. Centers such as the game’s elite like Demarcus Cousins, Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokic have led a new era for the position, opposing the likes of Shaquille O’Neal and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar of past eras. They have exchanged force for finesse and power for prowess, and now a position that seemed to be lacking the same depth as others, especially the point guard position, is now completely loaded with talent from across the league.
Ranking the top 10 centers in the game is far more challenging than it seems on paper considering there are dozens of contenders league-wide worthy of a spot. However, one in particular has come into his own and is closing in on a very prominent spot among the league’s top centers … and he resides in Portland.
Jusuf Nurkic’s development as a big has led him to this point in time when we can no longer associate him with a solid role player or backup center. He has now created a serious argument to be mentioned as one of the 10 best men at the 5-spot.
Nurkic’s pro career kicked off six years ago as an 18-year-old competing in domestic Croatian leagues and the EuroLeague, making a name for himself as a young big man with boatloads of potential.
After three seasons overseas, he was drafted by the Chicago Bulls 16th overall in the 2014 NBA Draft, only to be traded to the franchise where he’d spend his first two and a half seasons in the NBA, the Denver Nuggets.
He spent his first few years in the league as a backup center and contributing role player, fighting a few injury problems that caused him to be sidelined and struggling for minutes with the emergence of the juggernaut we know today as Nikola Jokic.
With Jokic rising as a top talent in the game and taking the starting job for the Nuggets, Nurkic voiced his displeasure with the organization, requesting a trade that would eventually be granted. In a move that would send Mason Plumlee to Denver, the Portland Trail Blazers had acquired Jusuf Nurkic.
This trade would prove to be a turning point in his career. Ever seen this transaction, Nurkic’s minutes and performance have both shot up, going from 7.5 points and 5.9 rebounds in 17.7 minutes per game in Denver to an immediate impact with the Blazers, jumping to 15.2 points, 10.4 boards and 1.9 blocks in 29.2 minutes per game, which included 19 starts with Portland to close out the 2016-17 regular season.
In the 2017-18 NBA season, Nurkic was just one rebound shy of averaging another double-double as a Trail Blazer, putting up 14.3 points, 9.0 rebounds and 1.3 blocks a night.
Fast forward a year and Nurkic has become one of the cornerstones of the product the Blazers have put on the court. The Bosnian Beast has averaged 14.7 points per game with an increase on the boards with 10.5 rebounds a game, while still serving as a solid rim protector by averaging 1.3 blocks a game yet again.
The steady development and improvement in the game of Nurk has elevated him year after year, building his resume. He has gone from a backup center, to a solid role player, to an extremely efficient double-double machine.
At just 24 years old, however, Nurkic’s tale isn’t finished and his tank is a long way from “E.” As a result of stellar play and contribution for a perennial playoff team in the Trail Blazers, Nurkic has now solidified his argument to be in the discussion as one of the league’s top 10 centers.
Nurkic has put up countless 20-10 and 20-15 performances that Portland has leaned on this season, but none has been more impressive than what transpired on New Year’s Day.
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In a road game against the Kings to kick off 2019, Nurkic showcased the best game of his career thus far becoming the only player in NBA history first player since the 1983-84 NBA season to put up a 20-point, 20-rebound “5×5” game. Nurkic put up 24 points, 23 rebounds, seven assists, five blocks and five steals in a 113-108 win over the solid Sacramento Kings.
After leading the Blazers to their second straight win and putting up his 18th double-double of the season, Nurkic was asked by Brooke Olzendam how key his defense was in the game, to which Nurkic would answer lightheartedly, “I thought I had more.”
The thing about Nurkic is, ultimately, he will have more. Maybe he doesn’t have a plethora of 5×5 games on the horizon, but in terms of performances that matchup well against those of the best centers in the game, he undoubtedly has more in store.
In scoring, Nurkic ranks 11th among centers and in rebounds he ranks 12th. In a league that boasts talent at the 5 like it does in 2019 such as Joel Embiid, Nikola Jokic, Andre Drummond, Rudy Gobert, Karl-Anthony Towns, and countless others, perhaps Nurkic cannot squeeze into the top 10 just yet.
However, with performances like Tuesday night, and solid double-double averages throughout the year on a playoff team, there is no doubt that it would be baffling not to have Jusuf Nurkic, a still young and promising center, outside of contention.