Jusuf Nurkic Must Stop Thinking And Just Play

The Blazers need Nurkic just as much as they do Lillard and McCollum. Last season, Nurkic averaged 14.3 points and 9.0 rebounds in 26.4 minutes of action. If the Blazers are to succeed this season, head coach Terry Stotts will need to increase his minutes. A player of his value will need to be on the floor no less than 31 minutes per game.

Another thing that Nurkic must improve on is not waiting for Lillard or McCollum to bail the team out. Nurkic is one of the dominating centers in the NBA when he wants to be. His 14.3 points is not a true reflection of the type of offensive juggernaut he is. The main issue is, he’s averaging just 12 shots per game while hitting on .505 percent of his attempts.

If Nurkic can have more minutes, that will increase his attempts, thus putting him and the Blazers in better situations. Lastly, Nurkic needs to hit the open man out the post with better accuracy. He’s averaging 2.3 turnovers per game and most of those are from bad passes to teammates. If he can cut down on the turnovers and assert himself on the offensive end, the Blazers will be a bigger threat in the Western Conference.

Next Up: No. 3