A player significantly missing from the Portland Trail Blazers is Jusuf Nurkic. The Bosnian was doing fine last NBA season before suffering compound fractures to his tibia and fibula on Mar. 25, 2019. It was a big blow for the Blazers although his efforts were enough to push Portland to the playoffs. The team managed to reach the NBA Western Conference Finals but bowed to the Golden State Warriors.
A glaring hole in that final with the Dubs was the center position. No one was able to cover for the injured 7-footer but Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum tried to carry the load. In an effort to address that hole, Portland took in Hassan Whiteside but the 30-year-old has not been a consistent performer.
With only 17 games left in their NBA regular season schedule, Nurkic will reportedly make his return on Sunday against the Houston Rockets. It appears the 25-year-old has recovered from his harrowing injury but wants to make sure he is good to go. Before his long-awaited debut, the 16th overall pick of the 2014 NBA Draft plans to play in the G-League first with the Santa Cruz Warriors, a last checkpoint per a report from The Athletic.
“One more checkpoint for me. That’s my last stop before I finally say yes. But I don’t see (the practice being an) issue,” Jusuf Nurkic said.
Jurkic's move is understandable. The injury he sustained is career-threatening and the mental factor of the physicality he will face is not easy to overcome. But once he does get back into the groove, the Blazers fortunes could take a serious twist. The only question is, will that happen immediately?
The Blazers currently occupy the 11th spot in the Western Conference and could have a slight chance of making it to the next round. To do that, they need to start winning games. They have lost back-to-back games and have only 17 games left this season. And seeing that he is trying to blend in after a long layoff, the Bosnian is unlikely to log heavy minutes for now.
Head coach Terry Stotts could field in Nurkic to get him ready for next season's NBA wars. This means that the Blazers' playoff chances still hinge on their backcourt duo of Lillard and McCollum. Carmelo Anthony will try to help, same with Whiteside. Things are not looking promising for Portland although their mindset should be to win as much of their remaining games as possible.
