Portland Trail Blazers: Nurkic is the real Robin to Dame’s Batman
Final Thoughts
The Portland Trail Blazers must continue to build this roster around the strengths of Damian Lillard and Jusuf Nurkic and their abilities as a tandem to take this team to the next level. Keeping Norman Powell was huge. Adding big bodies Larry Nance Jr. and Cody Zeller to help back up Nurkic improve the teams’ bench from a defensive standpoint. I also look forward to seeing the impact new head coach Chauncey Billups will have on Nurkic both defensively and offensively.
The elephant in the room that I have not mentioned is CJ McCollum. As I’ve written in past articles, McCollum is playing out of position as a two-guard. As a result, CJ won’t truly maximize his capabilities in this league until he anchors his own team as a starting point guard. Additionally, McCollum is actually better defensively than Lillard when toughening up against opposing point guards rather than guarding larger shooting guards.
Obviously, health is a big factor, and Nurk missed significant time the last two seasons. But as constructed, this roster can compete for a top-four spot, but until they go all-in on having a starting five that compliments what Dame and Nurk can do on both ends of the floor, the Portland Trail Blazers won’t be a true NBA title contender.
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Do you think the Portland Trail Blazers need to do a better job building around the duo of Lillard and Nurkic? Let us know in the comments section below or on social media.