Yes. he's a borderline elite screener and more than qualified as a backup C. He's also not a sieve on defense.
Zeller just needs to stay healthy. He is a solid backup center. Not great but there are not a lot of negatives with the guy. I hope his ability to set a screen without picking up a foul will rub off on Nurk.
the scary thing is that in the last 4 seasons, Nurkic and Zeller have combined to miss about 250 games due to injury. And Zeller will be drinking Portland water now
I don't necessarily agree or disagree, but I do think that needs to be tested with the Blazers next season before concluding either way. Kanter has been a lot more durable and that counts for something
The fact that we only have two legit centers on the roster, both of whom have pretty extensive injury histories, is my biggest concern about the Blazers this season.
and none of our pf are a realistic fill in at center. with that said i think Nurk plays 82 games this season.
yep but even more than that is after those two injury-prone C's, the Blazers have only 1 'new-nba' PF, who is also one of only two guys over 6'6; and the other is a raw, 2nd round rookie. That sure looks like a recipe for disaster
Not happy there wasn't any big moves, and frankly surprised because of the pressure on NO. It actually takes huge balls or a HUGE ego (likely the latter) to keep the status quo through the outside pressure. Before all of the public demands from Dame, I thought Neil wasn't going to make many moves until the deadline and the longer it goes it is definitely the direction he's going with. Honestly, I don't think it's the worst choice either. There wasn't any clear cut player that would make a huge jump, so why not give the starting lineup another half season with a real coach and see what we truly have. In the meantime, CJ and some of the other players can rebuild their value and worst case, NO makes a big move at the deadline when there are many more sellers than during the off-season. I think with Dame and a healthy starting lineup we are a lock for 4-6, but more needs to happen to ensure a deep run and TBH a CJ trade is what would do that. We'll see at the deadline, regardless, I am excited to see what Billups can do at the beginning of the year.
Bro! You better pray Nurk plays 82 games this season AND stays out of foul trouble, that’s all I’m sayin’.
Zeller being a competent backup that can actually play defense may well help Nurk stay out of foul trouble.