Jusuf Nurkic Articles - Page 5

The Los Angeles Clippers failed to make the NBA Playoffs, following back-to-back losses in the play-in tournament. With their season over, the team will turn its focus onto 2022-23, at which point they should hopefully be at full strength for most of the year. A full year of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George teaming up […]

This has been an awful year for the Portland Trail Blazers. After signing Chauncey Billups as their new coach, there was hope that the franchise could turn around their awful postseason luck. Alas, it wasn’t meant to be. After struggling to start the year, star point guard Damian Lillard was shut down for the year […]

Damian Lillard’s pointed demands for an improved supporting cast have still yet to be addressed. It has been almost a year since the most loyal superstar in basketball threatened to leave Rip City, and all the Portland Trail Blazers have to show for it is the mere possibility of finally meeting his mandate. CJ McCollum […]

Even though many thought the Indiana Pacers can be a playoff team, they are set to end the season in the bottom part of the Eastern Conference standings. After starting the season with Domantas Sabonis, Myles Turner, Caris LeVert, Malcolm Brogdon, and an interesting rookie in Chris Duarte, they traded two of them and now […]

The Portland Trail Blazers’ immediate focus once the regular season mercifully comes to a close on Sunday will be the NBA draft. Locked into the league’s sixth-highest lottery odds, Portland is guaranteed a top-10 pick and could net a second lottery selection if the New Orleans Pelicans are ousted from the play-in tournament. But with […]

One week after finally admitting Damian Lillard’s season was over, the Portland Trail Blazers clarified the status of two other franchise pillars who have been sidelined with nagging injuries. The Blazers announced on Monday that Anfernee Simons (left knee patellar tendinopathy) and Jusuf Nurkic (left foot plantar fasciitis) would miss the remainder of 2021-22. Some […]

The Indiana Pacers beat the Portland Trail Blazers 129-98 Sunday night. After the loss, Jusuf Nurkic got into an altercation with a Pacers fan, which ended in the Blazers center throwing the fan’s phone towards the stands. The NBA fined Nurkic $40 thousand for his postgame actions and announced the decision Tuesday afternoon. Shortly after […]

Sunday night, the Indiana Pacers destroyed the Portland Trail Blazers in a 129-98 blowout win. Although he didn’t play in the loss, Blazers’ Jusuf Nurkic made headlines Sunday night just moments after the final buzzer. The Portland center was caught on camera confronting a heckling Pacers fan. Nurkic gets very close to the fan before […]

Jusuf Nurkic was in no mood. The Portland Trail Blazers center went right at an Indiana Pacers fan for heckling him earlier in the game. Check out the Bosnian Blazers big man walk straight up to a courtside fan and chuck his phone: Nurk 😳 pic.twitter.com/xFKNChXGli — NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) March 21, 2022 While it’s unclear […]

The last time Anfernee Simons took the floor was the last time the Portland Trail Blazers actually looked like they belong in the NBA. That’s not a criticism of the second-round picks, undrafted free agents and G-League call-ups who have comprised Portland’s woefully depleted roster over the last few days, or even an aspersion on […]

Officially, the Portland Trail Blazers are still leaving the door open for Damian Lillard to return before season’s end. The team announced late last month that Lillard had passed the “initial phase” of rehabilitation from mid-January surgery on his abdomen, and would soon begin the “reconditioning phase” of his recovery. The first week of March […]

The Portland Trail Blazers entered their two-game set with the Minnesota Timberwolves at Target Center one-and-a-half games back of the final spot in the Western Conference play-in tournament. Portland would be underdogs no matter what with Damian Lillard and Jusuf Nurkic sidelined, but at least Minnesota’s absences—Anthony Edwards and Patrick Beverly missed Saturday’s game—ensured it […]

The Portland Trail Blazers are one of the more stable playoff teams in the NBA. Well, at least, they were up until this season. The Blazers entered 2021-22 having made the playoffs in eight straight seasons, the longest active streak in the NBA. But they traded away C.J. McCollum, Norman Powell and other key contributors […]

Chris Paul is out at least another month with a broken right thumb, and Devin Booker entered health and safety protocols hours before tipoff. Even with their opponent absent both members of basketball’s best backcourt, though, the depleted, rebuilding Portland Trail Blazers were still sent to a third straight blowout loss. The Phoenix Suns routed […]

Damian Lillard and trade rumors: name a more iconic duo. The Portland Trail Blazers star has been the subject of speculation for as long as he’s been with the team. Countless fans and “analysts” have advocated for Lillard to stay with his original or, more popularly, for Lillard to demand a trade. For other members […]

So much for consternation over a wholly transformative trade deadline. Instead of reeling from finally breaking up its longtime core, the Portland Trail Blazers entered the All-Star break winners of four straight games, playing with activity and intensity that had often been absent during Chauncey Billups’ inaugural season on the sidelines. The Blazers can’t count […]

The Portland Trail Blazers don’t seem all that keen on pushing for the playoffs. After entering the All-Star break on a stunning 4-0 surge, the Blazers announced on Wednesday that starting center Jusuf Nurkic will miss at least four weeks due to plantar fasciitis in his left foot. Trail Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic will be […]

Damian Lillard has doubled, tripled and quadrupled down on his commitment to Rip City. Anfernee Simons is a star right now, and the Portland Trail Blazers will pay him like it this summer. Nassir Little is already entrenched as a long-term building block in Portland, with one more year left on his rookie contract. Josh […]

The Portland Trail Blazers finally tore it down at the trade deadline, sending out C.J. McCollum and three other impact veterans in a series of moves that placed the organization’s focus firmly on next season. Don’t tell that to Chauncey Billups and his team’s new-look locker room, though. Rejuvenated by the additive presence of Josh […]

Mere moments after the most transformational trade deadline in franchise history, interim general manager Joe Cronin all but confirmed what the Portland Trail Blazers’ series of cost-cutting, win-later moves meant for Damian Lillard over the season’s remainder. Portland’s superstar point guard would “most likely” sit out until 2022-23, Cronin said at a post-deadline press conference, […]

Jusuf Nurkic, Anfernee Simons and the new-look Portland Trail Blazers have definitely earned a week-long vacation. Portland will embark on the All-Star break as perhaps the hottest team in basketball, winners of four straight games after taking down the Memphis Grizzlies in a hard-fought, highly entertaining 123-119 victory on Wednesday at FedEx Forum. Memphis entered […]

Winning isn’t exactly the top organizational priority in Rip City after a truly transformational trade deadline. Nobody seems to have told Anfernee Simons, Josh Hart, Jusuf Nurkic and the re-invigorated Portland Trail Blazers, though. Portland routed the Milwaukee Bucks 122-107 on Monday at Fiserv Forum, winning its third straight game since overhauling the roster last […]

Aside from the titanic tussle between the Los Angeles Rams and the Cincinnati Bengals, many NFL fans also eagerly awaited the epic halftime show of Super Bowl LVI. Safe to assume, many were not disappointed. Rap royalty Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, and Mary J. Blige put on quite a performance at the […]

The Los Angeles Clippers pulled off one of the best moves at the 2022 NBA Trade Deadline. Coming into the deadline, moves were expected out of the Clippers. They are currently eighth in the West with a 28-30 record but without Kawhi Leonard and Paul George for the time being, and it is unclear if […]

The 2022 NBA Trade Deadline had some incredible deals. James Harden and Ben Simmons traded places, while Kristaps Porzingis was part of a shocking blockbuster. Yet, some teams decided to stand their ground and will attack the postseason with their rosters as they are, barring making a move on the buyout market. The Denver Nuggets […]

The 2022 NBA Trade Deadline came and went, and some teams made some major changes. No team changed as much as the Portland Trail Blazers, as they completely changed their squad. They traded away Robert Convington and Norman Powell to the Clippers, while also dealing CJ McCollum to the Pelicans. After a few years and […]

LeBron James and Anthony Davis didn’t exactly bring it, and several players who were pivotal for the Portland Trail Blazers almost certainly won’t be on the roster when this team is really trying to win. Don’t dismiss the long-term significance of Portland’s stirring 107-105 win over the sinking Los Angeles Lakers despite the unique circumstances […]

Already the league’s most active trade partner, the Portland Trail Blazers still may not be done dealing leading up to Thursday afternoon’s deadline. Indeed, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported in the immediate wake of Portland sending C.J. McCollum to the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday that interim general manager Joe Cronin and the front office are […]

The Portland Trail Blazers sent C.J. McCollum to the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday, a move that continues their roster overhaul leading up to the trade deadline and signals the end of an era in Rip City. Larry Nance Jr. and Tony Snell are headed to New Orleans as well, with Josh Hart, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, […]

Jusuf Nurkic’s future with the Portland Trail Blazers would be in doubt even if he wasn’t the subject of frequent trade rumors leading up to the deadline. He’s a free agent this summer, and it wouldn’t shock if Portland’s new decision-making regime preferred going after a more versatile, athletic center to bringing back Nurkic on […]

At 21-32, the Portland Trail Blazers are arguably the biggest disappointment of the season. This is the same franchise that owns a league-long streak of eight consecutive playoff berths, including a run to the 2019 Western Conference Finals. Three years later, the Blazers are almost guaranteed to miss the playoffs. They recently traded away Norman […]

After a disappointing start to the 2021-22 NBA season, the Boston Celtics are rolling at the moment. In their last 14 games, the Celtics won 10 and are currently occupying the eighth spot in the East. The Cs can still sneak into the top six, due to the recent slide of the Brooklyn Nets. Still, […]

The Portland Trail Blazers tipped off trade season in stunning fashion on Friday, moving Norman Powell and Robert Covington to the LA Clippers in exchange for Eric Bledsoe, Keon Johnson, Justise Winslow and a future second-round pick, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Here’s why interim general manager Joe Cronin and the Blazers’ front office agreed […]

So much for the Portland Trail Blazers’ midseason momentum amid Damian Lillard’s indefinite absence. After going 7-4 once the eight-time All-Star was sidelined come the New Year, the Blazers have lost five of their last six games, trudging toward next week’s trade deadline in just as disappointing a position as they were a month ago. […]

The Portland Trail Blazers brought the early energy they needed to make up for a massive rest deficit against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Once the jumpers stopped falling and the clock started winding, though, they looked every bit a depleted, veteran team playing a much younger, fresher foe on the back half of a road […]

The move the Portland Trail Blazers are more likely to make than any other at the trade deadline won’t address their most obvious, big-picture need. But shedding just over $3 million worth of salary by February 10th to duck the luxury tax and receive part of the most lucrative distribution from taxpaying teams in league […]

The Portland Trail Blazers used isolation basketball to pull away from the worst team in the Western Conference on Friday night. After the Houston Rockets suddenly pulled within six as the game clocked ticked below five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, C.J. McCollum and Anfernee Simons mercilessly matchup-hunted for Garrison Mathews in pick-and-roll, clearing […]

Chauncey Billups called timeout with 5:29 remaining in Friday’s game, his team at real risk of squandering what seemed like an insurmountable lead after Jalen Green’s step-back three pulled the Houston Rockets within six. The Portland Trail Blazers hadn’t encountered much trouble running roughshod over the Western Conference’s worst team, but some ugly turnovers and […]

Damian Lillard isn’t going anywhere. But as the February 10th trade deadline fast approaches, the prevailing assumption had been that the Portland Trail Blazers would actively seek deals for pretty much any other player on the roster—especially the veterans that have long comprised this team’s core. Don’t tell that to Jusuf Nurkic, though. In a […]