What should the Blazers do about the center spot?

[Tim Lehrbach]

The Blazers are playing great, but I suspect the middle is going to become a problem sooner or later. The Blazers are masking a major hole so far with Eubanks' energy, a few good games from a Nurk who otherwise looks cooked, and some super-try-hard small-ball with Winslow. But we have nobody who can combine owning the glass, defending in space, and finishing inside. Good teams are going to exploit either the size or quickness advantage, or both, and the offense will suffer for lack of a strong finisher or extra three-point shooter.

What to do?

Maybe the answer is maintain the status quo as far as minutes distribution, but keep Nurkic outside as a screen-setter, passer, and spot-up shooter.

Maybe the answer is continuing to shift Nurkic's minutes to Eubanks, or to ride the small-ball successes with Winslow and doses of Watford, while Eubanks plays major backup minutes.

Or, is there a trade out there for an upgrade?

We've begun discussing this in various places, but I'm genuinely torn among all the options and wonder what your best ideas are.

[BlazersBroncos]

I went 'Other' - keep Nurkic starting but give a 50/50 minutes split between him and Eubanks.

Benching him and starting Eubanks will bring unnecessary drama IMO. Its just not feasible chemistry wise. And going full small is silly, Watford gets smoked by guys that are bigger than him generally (Woods as example 1).

I also dont think there is a trade market for him w/o either attaching a FRP to make his value neutral or taking on poo contracts (IE Dwight Powell + Davis Bertans level poo).

Start him, give him 24mpg or so and use Eubanks more. Give Watford some run at C if the matchup provides.

Its also worth noting that last game was his first back from injury. I dont think he will be THAT bad all year, but he also isnt ever returning to 18/19 2.5 DBPM era Nurkic sadly.

[HoopsFanAZ]

1. Trade Nurkic for a lesser but better fitting center or the big, expensive package for Ayton?
2. Sign a center next summer using the taxpayer-MLE.
3. Trade for a center using some of the SG-SF depth.

The question, IMHO, is who should be the starting center for the Blazers?
Answers?
1. Not a star. Too much cost and not where Simons' money or above gets spent except for a top center.
2. Not too tall ... as in 7'1 or above. Generally, the tall guys can't hedge screen & rolls AND get back to protect the rim. Can't challenge corner 3's AND get back to rebound. ... 6'9 and long and athletic up to maybe 7' and long. [There are exceptions for today's game but not many.]
A 3rd, 4th, or 5th option on O. Defends, rebounds, hustles, challenges shots ... efficient on how he scores around 10-12 points consistently.
A guy with some strength and weight and uses it ... Eubanks gets moved ... he's a great 3rd string center ... he's what the Blazers have as the back-up center ... and good to have.

Nurkic can produce on O more than what's needed, overall, and not enough or consistent enough of what this team needs. His D is just fine, but he's not built for an up-tempo game or an aggressive D.

Again, who is that guy and can he be gotten for a reasonable price in trade? A healthy Robert Williams III is what I think of. Myles Turner? Go get an enforcer who's all about the team in Steven Adams? Mo Bamba for rim protection?

[BlazersBroncos]

Again, who is that guy and can he be gotten for a reasonable price in trade? A healthy Robert Williams III is what I think of. Myles Turner? Go get an enforcer who's all about the team in Steven Adams? Mo Bamba for rim protection?

Boston aint moving RWIII and I dont think MEM would do a Adams for Nurkic swap either.

Bamba has been benched on one of, if not the, worse teams in the league. Why people see him as anything more than a flyer is beyond me. He is not a quality NBA player.

Turner is the best most avaliable option but I dont believe IND would want to commit to Nurkic's salary.

I just dont see the options really.

If will say, with the parity of the league and KD likely getting more disgruntled and the Blazers playing well enough to likely be on his 'list' I would love to see Simons, Nurkic, Little, 2 FRP, 2 Swaps for KD, random guy (Sumner?). Then for the C spot try for Jaxton Hayes (Who is getting DNP-CD right now) using one of our TPE.

G - Damian Lillard / Keon Johnson / Gary Payton II
G - Josh Hart / Gary Payton II / Edmond Sumner
F - Jerami Grant / Shadeon Sharpe / Greg Brown
F - Kevin Durant / Justice Winslow / Jabari Walker JR
C - Drew Eubanks / Jaxton Hayes / Trendon Watford

Hate KD but like rings more, and that is the best team in the league.

[Case2012]

Yeah, that package for KD would be awesome and the fact that we're playing at this level has to be enticing for KD since he only wants to play for teams that look like they're ready for him to be the last piece. I wonder about chemistry though and I think I would lean more towards Turner and paying Hart, Turner and Grant next season. Then I would look to move Simons for an actual SF or pf so Hart can start at the 2 and Grant can either stay at 4 or slide to the wing. KD would be really tough to turn down though, I'm of 2 minds on the topic. I would be happy with either scenario because we'd be going all in.

I also don't think Nurkic is cooked. He's playing like he's not motivated now that he's got paid and he's not putting effort on defense and rebounding because he's not getting touches on the offensive end.

Nurkic can put up numbers if he's a focus of the offense and it shows on the other end too when he's involved.

Part of it is his attitude and the other part is Billups offense pushing the ball up. Nurkic is a half court center not built for the uptempo style. I think he would be fine on a team with a more half court oriented team. His contract should make him pretty easy to move with a pick for an upgrade imo. Cronin has talked a lot about needing the right kind of contacts to make trades and I think that's why Nurkic in part got paid that ridiculous amount, no one was going to offer. He's only 28 and as we saw earlier this season he can be very effective. He's just kind of a baby and I'm sick of him so I want him gone. I'm still irritated he blocked me on Twitter for a random joke about his lay ups too.

[BlazersBroncos]

I also don't think Nurkic is cooked. He's playing like he's not motivated now that he's got paid and he's not putting effort on defense and rebounding because he's but getting touches on the offensive end.

I just really dont think motivation is the issue, and if it is thats a huge deal because right now he is playing for the best team in the West with his BFF at the helm. What should Indiana expect if they take his deal on. I think Nurkic on a rebuild team would be a total disaster and would be surprised if NBA front offices dont see the same.

At his size he was a near unicorn for how well he moved before the injuries. Now he is what he looks like, a lumbering old school big man that can get mauled in the PNR game, rebounds really well, sets good screens and wants to post guys up in the half court. He has a skillset that is pretty non-valued in today's NBA, especially now that he isnt uniquely light on his feet.

In 17/18 and 18/19 he was the lynchpin of our defense. Like night and day different when he was on the floor. That leg fracture just ruined him IMO, and he hasnt been the same player on defense since. Advanced stats show this as well, as do raw stats (His block numbers went from 1.4 in 26.5mpg during 17/18 18/19 to 0.8 in basically the same minutes 20/21 21/22 and 22/23 - cut in half despite no change in role).

Nurkic seems to really enjoy the offseason and let himself go so there is hope IMO that he can recover to 21/22 status at least, but we wont ever be seeing the movement we saw in pre-leg fracture Nurkic. He is what he is. (Also, IMO we need to use him in the high post more often, dont see that as much this year)

[Blazinaway]

Get some insurance and perhaps target Hartenstein, offer Nas and filler

[DaVoiceMaster]

If nothing else this season, I would like to strengthen the center position by adding a solid replacement for Nurkic or a stronger backup. I dont know who that is other than Turner.

When Nurkic is focused, he's pretty darn good. Unfortunately, that doesnt always seem to be the case. I'm also tired of watching him throw the ball at the basket rather than taking an actual shot (as if he wanted to make a basket).

[DeBlazerRiddem]

I also don't think Nurkic is cooked. He's playing like he's not motivated now that he's got paid and he's not putting effort on defense and rebounding because he's but getting touches on the offensive end.

I just really dont think motivation is the issue, and if it is thats a huge deal because right now he is playing for the best team in the West with his BFF at the helm. What should Indiana expect if they take his deal on. I think Nurkic on a rebuild team would be a total disaster and would be surprised if NBA front offices dont see the same.

At his size he was a near unicorn for how well he moved before the injuries. Now he is what he looks like, a lumbering old school big man that can get mauled in the PNR game, rebounds really well, sets good screens and wants to post guys up in the half court. He has a skillset that is pretty non-valued in today's NBA, especially now that he isnt uniquely light on his feet.

In 17/18 and 18/19 he was the lynchpin of our defense. Like night and day different when he was on the floor. That leg fracture just ruined him IMO, and he hasnt been the same player on defense since. Advanced stats show this as well, as do raw stats (His block numbers went from 1.4 in 26.5mpg during 17/18 18/19 to 0.8 in basically the same minutes 20/21 21/22 and 22/23 - cut in half despite no change in role).

Nurkic seems to really enjoy the offseason and let himself go so there is hope IMO that he can recover to 21/22 status at least, but we wont ever be seeing the movement we saw in pre-leg fracture Nurkic. He is what he is. (Also, IMO we need to use him in the high post more often, dont see that as much this year)

Great post agree with almost everything but... Nurkic played and lead his team to some good success in the Eurocup this summer so I dont think its fair to say he let himself go... I would say its more likely he is coming in more banged up than usual. And then yeah, he just isn't the same player and likely wont ever be.

[Tim Lehrbach]

Part of it is his attitude and the other part is Billups offense pushing the ball up. Nurkic is a half court center not built for the uptempo style. I think he would be fine on a team with a more half court oriented team.

The Blazers push the ball in transition more than past years, but when they aren't fast-breaking off defensive rebounds or turnovers, they actually play quite slowly. Nurkic's problem is he wants the ball in the post, where he's ineffective.

I actually voted status quo in the poll because, while I'm out here exploring alternatives, I don't believe he can be traded for an upgrade. I think we have to hope Nurkic can be fitted to the new style on offense and be covered by the team's great defense. If Nurkic will buy into being a high-post hub, screener, and spot-up shooter, he could be at least not a liability at the offensive end. Despite being slow, he's still rebounding and defending the rim pretty well. A swarming defensive unit that adds GPII to the mix could mostly cover for his weaknesses in limited minutes. If nothing else, he is probably just as effective as any other castoff backstop we could find out there.

In important/playoff games, however, I expect him to be played off the floor. In those instances I don't know yet whether I favor Eubanks or abandoning size and rolling mostly with Winslow.

Mostly I just expect this to eventually be the flaw that dooms the Blazers, so it's worth thinking ahead. This team otherwise looks stacked and ready for primetime.

Nurkic: prove us wrong!

[DaVoiceMaster]

Wiretap says the Celtics are looking for a center. Is there a 3-way deal to be had including Indiana?

[DeBlazerRiddem]

I dont think we can trade Nurkic until January so our first options have to be find a way to make it work and get him playing valuable basketball again.

[Norm2953]

It'll be the status quo but looking at the backlog in the back court, it'll be interesting to
know what Portland could get in a 2/1 deal with Nurk + a guard going out.

It might be interesting to see what the GSW do at the trade deadline for they seem to be
missing GP2 and Portland is over loaded in the back court

[PDXKnight]

I think we need to continue to start nurk as he is the best center we have at the moment and eubanks has been nice in spots but maybe not so much in 24 to 30 mins. Ultimately having nurk on limited minutes is a win win for the playoffs and injury risk so I'm ok with it. Also the depth isn't a bad asset to have either

I do think nurk is more expendable now than he has been in awhile but I'm also not trigger happy to trade him. If we get an upgrade or a cheaper option for similar production (in order to keep hart and grant) great if not just stick with the status quo for the time being and see what happens down the line. I do think nurk is fairly tradeable so the contract doesn't concern me so long as he's healthy

[HoopsFanAZ]

Again, who is that guy and can he be gotten for a reasonable price in trade? A healthy Robert Williams III is what I think of. Myles Turner? Go get an enforcer who's all about the team in Steven Adams? Mo Bamba for rim protection?

Boston aint moving RWIII and I dont think MEM would do a Adams for Nurkic swap either.
Bamba has been benched on one of, if not the, worse teams in the league. Why people see him as anything more than a flyer is beyond me. He is not a quality NBA player.
Turner is the best most avaliable option but I dont believe IND would want to commit to Nurkic's salary.
I just dont see the options really.

If will say, with the parity of the league and KD likely getting more disgruntled and the Blazers playing well enough to likely be on his 'list' I would love to see Simons, Nurkic, Little, 2 FRP, 2 Swaps for KD, random guy (Sumner?). Then for the C spot try for Jaxton Hayes (Who is getting DNP-CD right now) using one of our TPE.

G - Damian Lillard / Keon Johnson / Gary Payton II
G - Josh Hart / Gary Payton II / Edmond Sumner
F - Jerami Grant / Shadeon Sharpe / Greg Brown
F - Kevin Durant / Justice Winslow / Jabari Walker JR
C - Drew Eubanks / Jaxton Hayes / Trendon Watford

Hate KD but like rings more, and that is the best team in the league.

I agree with your arguments about the other centers who I listed and with your Durant trade proposal. I don’t know if there’s an “easy” trade of Nurkic. I wish Cronin good hunting.

[Bigpoppapomp82]

Trade Nurk please for God sakes! He’s terrible and doesn’t fit the system.

[Dame Lizard]

Unpopular opinion, as I absolutely love Josh Hart, but I don't think we can resign both him and Grant. Even if we can, our team balance wouldn't be good.

This I think it makes sense to trade him in January to bolster our PF/C position. He's been so amazing for us and it pains me to say that....

[tester551]

Unpopular opinion, as I absolutely love Josh Hart, but I don't think we can resign both him and Grant. Even if we can, our team balance wouldn't be good.

I don't see why Portland couldn't resign both Grant & Hart. Give Grant ~$3M more per year. Give Hart ~$5M more per year. The projected cap is gong up - so I don't see why we can't afford that.

[Norm2953]

Let's see how GP2 fits in Portland for if Portland goes really small with Dame/Ant on the court with
Hart, GP2 and Grant, they will need Nurk or someone with length to rebound and protect the basket

[JasonStern]

Two words - Ibou Badji.