Rankings among centers who average at least 20 mpg PER: 7th TS%: 9th FG%: 8th FT%: 10th FTR: 7th REB %: 3rd AST %: 7th SCRN AST/36: 3rd STL %: 2nd DBPM: 8th BPM: 11th He’s also the only Blazer that grades out positively on both ends of the court by BPM and leads our team in VORP, BPM, DBPM, WS/48, and PER. This isn't a guy you trade, this is a guy you extend. Only way I'm trading him is if you get someone better, and that would be pretty hard to do. He's objectively been a top 10 center in the league this season. Does he have things he can do better? Of course, but he has improved on his weaknesses. His FG and TS percentages are at a career high right now, the main things people complain about. He's also getting to the line more than ever. Is he an MVP type player like Jokic? Nope. Does he have a better all around game than most centers in the league? Yup. This team has plenty of holes. He aint one of them.
His engagement and consistency are the biggest issues. Nurk at his peak is great, we only see it once a week.
Positive good Nurk is worth keeping. gotta find a way to get that nurk to show up more often. Engaged Nurk is a great positive. Disengaged Nurk is a great negative.
all things considered, Nurk is about the least of Portland's problems right now though, I'd think Portland's chances of re-signing him are less than even. Dame is the wild card in that
I agree, but there are other factors. Mental game/consistency and Nurk's maturity is a big factor. The worse kind of player to have on your team is one who thinks they're way better than they are.
The thing about "peak Nurk" is that when he's at his best he's a top 5, maybe top 3 center. So even when you dont get that version, he's still better than most. The numbers prove that.
Sure, but I'm OK moving on from him. I was convinced he was a building block, don't feel like that anymore. We see too many games where he's completely invisible and I'm not sure Chauncey has been able to reach him (or will be able to). Maybe we want to see him without CJ, but I'm apathetic mostly.
Quick (yes, Quick with all his previous mistakes in reporting news) said on the Athletic pod yesterday there is no way he comes back in FA. Nurk is pretty fickle in his mindset, but if there's any truth to him not wanting to come back, I want some value for him in a deal. We've let go of way too many FAs for nothing in the past.
Chauncey hasn't been able to reach him, yet he's having maybe his best all around season so far? Billups loves Nurk, just look at how he talked about him after the Clipper game.
Like everything else - it depends on the price and role. Peak Nurk is awesome and is a $20m/year player (simply because the league really needs more mobile players when the opposition goes small, even peak Nurk is not making the other teams adjust to him). Inconsistent Nurk is a role player that is probably worth $15m/year. So, the questions are: 1. Are you willing to bet he is going to be consistent peak Nurk? 2. Do you trust him to stay healthy? If the answers to #1 and #2 are yes - are you willing to lose him for nothing if he is not getting over the $20m/year he wants? If the answers to either #1 or #2 are no - are you willing to lose him for nothing if he is not getting over the $15m/year he deserves? Given his history and the fact that he is a Klutch customer - I would not be upset if the Blazers decide that they need to trade him to try a mobile big that is more typical of the modern NBA.
The odds were gonna get a better center than Nurk are slim, especially with our assets. We have other more urgent holes to fill, so why would we waste said assets on a center? We need wings and maybe a power forward, depending on how you view Nance. Using all the assets to upgrade over Nurk will not actually upgrade the team. We need more defenders, so why would we trade our best one? I think its more likely that Nurk will be extended than traded. Billups is a Klutch guy too, wouldn't be surprised if we saw more of their clients head to Portland. I mean it already started with McLemore, but I mean more significant guys.
If I have to choose between better wings or a better center in today's NBA - I would say wings are more important than Centers. So, If keeping Nurk means missing on better wings, I would downgrade on center to upgrade on wings. How important is it to have top-10 Center in today's NBA? Even if we call Nurk a top-10 center in this league - the Blazers are currently #23 in the standing league wide, they would have probably been around 15 with better health. Again, if the team think he will walk - or will not accept a reasonable deal that is appropriate to his contributions - I am absolutely fine with the team trading him - whatever they get in return can be used as assets to upgrade in the wings positions.
of course, but short of that, I'm keeping him because I see no real basketball reasons to trade him. Focus should be elsewhere, like CJ and RoCo, who's also gonna be a free agent and unlike Nurk/center has replacements in house ready to replace him.
Short of this means that he will accept a reasonable salary and return. I already said what I think he is worth in my first return. If this is what the team values him or if he will be interested in it or not is above my pay grade.
This is my other bigger concern with Nurk rather than his petulant attitude. We want him to hedge/trap/recover AND protect the rim on defense. He could do it well on occasion against certain teams, and if the help is present, he could be effective, but I don't think he's a good fit for Chauncey's defensive style. Now if we find better defenders at 3/4 around him and Chauncey is more flexible to also drop the big at times, maybe he could work better in the long term. Nurk is unquestionably our best defender now, but even he is limited.
Last night concerned me. A competent coach defended him two ways, both were successful. 1. Put someone on him who is too strong to be pushed back--Green. 2. Double team him; he does not deal well with pressure, either rushes his shot or turns the ball over.
yeah he does deserve better than this ingrate fanbase. Good thing the fanbase isn’t in charge though.
