Prior to the trade deadline last season, the Denver Nuggets made the surprising decision to move big man Jusuf Nurkic to the Portland Trail Blazers in exchange for Mason Plumlee.
Nuggets president Tim Connelly recently shed light on the move during an appearance on a podcast with Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN stating that the trade was difficult to make but the right move. (h/t Harrison Wind of BSNDenver.com)
Certainly its been fantastic for Juka to have that starting opportunity. He played great. I don’t think anyone ever questioned his talent or skill-set and we’re extremely happy to have Mason but there are very few calls you can make or take where it’s ‘you know we have too many small forwards and you have got a good power forward’ or ‘this guy’s a good player’ and that part’s frustrating in that regard. During the Nurkic conversations, kind of realizing a change of scenery would be good for both the player and the team, how few willing partners there were even teams on paper at least ‘hey we think this guy’s a starting center. He’s proven to be such.’ Juka would be the first to tell you he’d probably handle some things differently. He was an immature kid at the time and emotionally you never know how he’s going to deal with things. But he’s a good kid and a very good player. I was shocked when you make these calls and teams think ‘hey they really need a center’ or ‘this team can’t rebound a lick this will be an easy one,’ how rarely that basketball is the focus on the conversation.
At the time of the trade, Nurkic was struggling to get a grapple of a significant role with the Nuggets in a crowded frontcourt. He was playing in a limited role off the bench that coupled with his maturity issues didn't allow for him to further progress his individual game.
He has already shown flashes of potential that included becoming the first NBA players to record at least 28 points, 20 rebounds, eight assists and six blocks in a game since Hall of Famer Charles Barkley. He also notched a career-high 33 points along with 16 rebounds against the Nuggets prior to his season ending due to a non-displaced fracture in his right leg.
Nurkic now has an opportunity to become a major contributor with the Trail Blazers over the next several seasons as the starting center. Ultimately, it was a situation in Denver that had hit a rut on both sides that led to a trade being only logical solution.
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