BIG BLAZER TRADE
By Dave Nelson
When you have followed professional sports as long as I have, in particular the Trail Blazers, trade announcements don’t come as a surprise. But, in some cases they do, and that’s what happened with the Blazers’ trade on the 12th with the Denver Nuggets.
That morning, I turned my phone on and found a text from my cousin saying, “3 First round picks?!! YESSS! Wait…what? On a Sunday? No rumors the night before when I checked…Who? Where? I knew they had their pick, and one they acquired from Cleveland in an earlier trade. But another?
The Vertical’s Adrian Wojnaroski was reporting that center Mason Plumlee and a 2018 2nd round pick to Denver, for a 2017 first round, and center Jusuf Nurkic. I never saw this coming. Certainly not Plumlee.
Sure enough.
Many knew it could be coming, with fears of him being a restricted free agent, a team offering him a toxic contract, not being able to match it due to the salary cap and Portland being close to, if not over it, and having to be luxury tax payers. President of Basketball Operations, Neil Olshey wouldn’t want him to leave for anything.
So who is Jusuf Nurkic? Nurkic is a 7’0, 280 LBS big man, in his 2nd season, draft originally by the Chicago Bulls in 2014 (round 1, 16 overall). The Bosnian born player has career averages of, 8.0 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 1.3 assists.
Clearly right now, Denver appears to be the winner of this trade with Plumlee averaging 11 points and 8 rebounds. But will the Nuggets be able to resign him in the offseason? This trade appears to be more about the future for Portland, with Nurkic and a draft pick, than now. Time will tell who the clear winner is.
“We are pleased to add a young center with Jusuf’s talent and potential to our roster and excited by the prospect of three first round picks in the 2017 NBA Draft,” Olshey said in a news release on blazers.com
“We also want to thank Mason for his many contributions to the organization these past two seasons. His presence will be missed and we wish him all the best for the future.”
