Re-signing Nurkic should be #1 on Blazers agenda

Contend for what?! This team can’t win a playoff game and you want to commit more money to it? Why are you trying to force the issue... let it be a lottery team then... better than giving Nurk 20 mil to add to Dame and CJ 25+ mil each for a team that can’t even win 1 playoff game

 

You literally said "This team is good enough to contend". That statement was based off yours....

There's many other changes we could make, to both the roster and the philosophy, that could make a huge difference.

 

Nurk deserves Evan Turner money in my view and I think Paul won't blink to pay him

 

Exactly.

 

Definitely should keep him.

It will be terrible, say, to see the Suns acquire Doncic and near maxing out Nurkic.


A line up of Nurkic-Doncic-Jackson-Booker would easily be owning the Blazers for the next decade.

 

@Gronk Brady You don't want to resign Nurkic at $16M per but you were willing to give up a first round pick in order to pay DeAndre Jordan a $25M a year contract at the deadline...

 

I would give Nurk any amount if we traded CJ and he took a more prominent role in the offense and had a more balanced team... if Neil is intent on keeping McLillard together then I don’t want to dig the hole deeper and overpay Nurk for a roster that can’t even win 1 game in the playoffs. And yes, if we are sticking with McLilard I think DeAndre is a much better fit... he won’t fumble the ball on pick and rolls with Dame

 

Keep him for $10 million per season. I would let him walk above that price. Aminu was more important to the defensive improvement. Other Blazers such as Mo were as important for the defense as Nurk. Turner/Davis/Collins we're a big factor too. Not playing Meyers was valuable.

The Blazers success was due to two great players; then many solid players and depth. It became a bigger advantage as the season went on and injuries/tanking mounted throughout the league.

Nurk has strengths but also weakness, speed, hands, slow feet; that will prevent him from ever playing full time as a key starter in the playoffs. His attitude in Denver is a concern if he were to get $20million+ payday.

Ultimately I don't see any other team offering him above $10 million; so we will keep him or he plays out the one year offer.

 

So the fact they were dead last in defense without Nurk and WITH Aminu and Harkless in similar roles draws you to the conclusion that Nurk didn't matter much in the team becoming a top-10 defense?

That is a brutally horrible take.

 

Your post is delusional. Right now, there are 27 NBA centers due to make between $10 million and $29 million in 2018-19. And that doesn't include guys like KAT, Nurk, Jokic, etc. that haven't yet had their first big payday. Nurk, due to his defensive impact alone certainly deserves to be one of the top 30 paid centers in the league. Keep in mind Mason Plumlee, the guy we traded for Nurk makes $13+ million an year to backup Nikola Jokic in Denver.

It doesn't matter how many times you say it or wish it, it doesn't change the fact that Nurk is a full time starting center in the NBA and will be paid accordingly. He started all 79 games he played in and well as all 4 playoff games.

Your dismissal of his defensive impact is laughable. With him as the anchor the Blazers defense improved from 24th to 8th. Aminu and Harkless are not new. They didn't instantaneously become the kind of defensive studs that would vault Portland from a bottom 6 defense into a top 8 one. As promising as Collins is, at his age and experience level, our team defense actually got worse as his minutes increased. He stole most of those minutes from Noah Vonleh. Vonleh was a offensive zero, but had earned his starting role based on his sold defense.

So on defense, none of Aminu, Harkless, Turner, McCollum, Lillard, Connaughton, etc. were new and Collins < Vonleh (defensively). The most significant difference, by far, in the team jumping from the 24th rated defense to the 8th was a full season of Jusuf Nurkic.

As much as it troubles you, he will get more than $10 million/year. You'll just need to learn to deal with it.

BNM

 

None of these centers are on the two best teams battling for the title. Coincidence?

If you want to pay players to fit positional labels of the 80's that's fine.

I do not; I want my favorite team to build a roster that has the best chance of winning a title in the current NBA. Being frugal with average rotational NBA players; that have a mix of on court value and flaws is critical to that end.

If the Blazers had such restraint with Meyers Leonard anf Evan Turner the future would be brighter. Instead they grossly overpaid and the team is constrained today from it.

I want the Blazers to make good choices going forward. Nurkic is a good value at one price level. At another level his value is neither good or bad, then at the highest salary his value is a large negative.

I will be interested to see what Neil does.

 

Well Capela will be next year.

 

Of the four teams remaining in the playoffs, Al Horford will be the highest paid center in the league again next year making $28,928,709.

Kevin Love spent the regular season as CLE's starting center. He will be making $24,119,025 next season, His back up and occasional starter Tristan Thompson will be making $17,469,565 next season.

I'm sorry, what was your point?

BNM

 

Put any of these centers with LeBron or KD and Steph and they are. Correlation doesn't equal causation, that's a weak argument.

 

yep,
the NBA is a marketing machine! If the money wasn't there players would be getting! Its there!

 

You gotta be kidding me. A WHOLE ECONOMY is based around Lebron being in Cleveland. GTFO...

 

Answer this:

How much are the Cleveland Cavaliers worth:

With Lebron:

Without Lebron:

Go!

Spoiler

There's much more than a $16 million dollar difference...