Blazers GM on upcoming free agent Jusuf Nurkic: We’re big fans

Michael Scotto: A lot of times when a trade is going down in the NBA, it comes down to need and whether there’s a little bit of desperation there. When I look at Portland’s situation, they got Josh Hart. Jusuf Nurkic is going to be a free agent, but there are enough people around the league that believe Nurkic and the Blazers will work out a deal, and he’ll stay there looking ahead towards next season and beyond. If you’re going along with that line of thinking, you’ve got Hart, Nurkic, Lillard. A lot of people around the league also believe Anfernee Simons will remain with the Blazers, and that’s why they made a lot of salary cap-saving moves to ultimately have more room to re-sign him and make another move going forward. Jerami Grant would plug a hole there at the four for them. Given where they’re at trying to compete with Lillard and his timeline, Grant is in the prime of his career at 28. -via HoopsHype / March 24, 2022