Lowe: Nurkic is taking qualifying offer

Jokic is borderline top ten on one end of the court and using only offensive metrics. Last year his defensive FG% inside of 10 feet was 63%! Just for reference Collins was 45% and Nurkic was 52%. MEYERS LEONARD WAS 58%!!!

God bless Denver, but there is no way I give a guy with that kind of defense that much money.

 

We complain about the defensive limitations of our starting guards, but they have nothing on Jokic. I can't help but wonder if the Jokic contract will be looked at as one of the worst of all times a few years from now.

 

I'm sure he does. But....as we all know, Nurk does things that Joker simply doesn't do. Like play Defense. And as much as we bicker at times about how "soft" Nurk is, he's a hell of a lot more physical than Jokic. This is evident by the fact that Nurk beats the shit out of Jokic every time they play one-another.

I don't want Nurk for Jokic's money....but I also don't want non-existent Defense at the rim. Which is what's going to happen if we let him walk.

I remember the very first game he played in a Blazer uniform, our Defense was night-and-day compared to the games previous. When he was on the court, our defensive ratings as a team were +17. When he was on the bench..... -42.

I really wish Nurk would develop a 3-point game. And for God's sake, please.....can we get a Big Man coach? Please, Olshey....for once in your miserable existence, give us a Big Man coach!

 

Not a chance. He will likely always be a defensive liability but his offensive skill set will not disappear and he’s getting paid for what he contributes there.

He isn’t the easiest player to build around but if you surround him with good perimeter defenders and a defensively power forward, you can build a great team with him as the central point.

 

I would like a Big Man's Coach, but not if Nurk is spending half his time 24 feet from the basket.

 

What he needs to focus on is that elbow or top of the key jumper a la Marc Gasol. That and his post game of course.

 

I disagree about Jokic being borderline top 10. He's a stat monster, but as mentioned, his defense is laughable. He hasn't led his team anywhere but back to the lottery, and his advanced stats regressed in his third year, compared to his second year. He's a unique talent, but I think opposing defenses are starting to figure him out. Not saying he's not good, just questioning if he's worth a $137 million max contract in today's guard/wing dominated game - especially given his defensive deficiencies.

BNM

 

And once again a team overpays and provides leverage to other players (i.e. Nurk) to demand the same contract. You just can't protect owners from themselves.

 

I don't expressing contracts just in raw numbers (5 yr/$164.5 mil)
Jokic is making, what, 33% of the current salary cap per year? That's a lot, almost
as bad as Blake Griffin (5 yr/$171 mil), 34.2% of team salary cap per year.

 

You've got a couple digits transposed there, Jokic's contract will be $146.5 million over 5 years. As a player with 0 - 6 years of NBA experience, his starting salary is limited to 25% of the salary cap.

BNM

 

My guess though, is that it's 20% annual raises, and the salary cap doesn't go up nearly 20% each year.

 

I think Davis has more to do with Collins development, that’s why he must stay imo....plus he’s one of the few Blazers who shows toughness on a consistent basis.

 

It's apples to oranges when you're comparing Jokic to Nurkic. I don't get this argument. Even his agent won't try to equate them, not sure why you guys are

 

Nurkic might was the point.

 

Nurk is better than folks are crediting him and at his age..still getting better....Jokic is like K Love was with the Wolves

 

Collins is not a center, he has a small frame build. I think LaMarcus Aldridge's build is going to be his best case.

 

I don't think anyone is saying the players are comparable, just that Nurkic might see Jokic's contract as realistic for him. I would argue it isn't realistic for Jokic, let alone Nurkic. Like it or not, the market determines the value. Blazers will likely pay Nurkic more than his market value just to keep the peace. I just hope it isn't way over the market value.

I think Nurk's current value is in the mid teens. But, when you look at the attached salaries for other centers (wow) you could argue it should be around $20m/year. The problem is that most of these were signed when teams had more money.