Portland Trail Blazers: 3 X-factors for success in NBA’s Orlando restart

1. The healthy frontcourt

It’s the obvious X-factor for the Trail Blazers, but it doesn’t make it any less important. The health of Jusuf Nurkic and Zach Collins has the ability to turn around an uninspiring campaign to this point.

Collins played three games this season before being sidelined by shoulder surgery. Nurkic has not played a single game this season. Both are expected to play key roles in the restart, with at least one of them likely sliding into the starting lineup immediately.

Collins is an elite defender at the rim and is developing a solid perimeter game on offense, those his career numbers don’t quite reflect that yet. Meanwhile, Nurkic was developing into an elite center prior to last season’s devastating injury, averaging 15.6 points and 10.4 rebounds per game in 2018-19. The return of both will be critical.

There’s always a chance the two players will be rusty after such lengthy layoffs, but the early reports from practice suggest they’re both fresh and spry. They will both need to play important roles on defense, where the Trail Blazers rank 27th in defensive rating this season. Stotts will be able to take away some playing time from Hassan Whiteside, whose defensive reputation precedes him.

Nurkic and Collins are arguably the two biggest additions, not just to the Trail Blazers, but to the entire NBA this summer. If they can play up to expectations, the Portland Trail Blazers can make a serious push for a playoff spot.