Jusuf Nurkic is the most important player to the Portland Trail Blazers outside of Damian Lillard. He was in the midst of a career season and his net rating of 10.4 led the team.
Losing Nurkic severely dampers Portland’s title chances, but the team would be in much worse shape if they did not sign Enes Kanter.
While Kanter is definitely not Nurkic, he is a quality starting center. Across his six starts, Kanter is averaging 18.7 points on 65.4% shooting to go along with 10.3 rebounds.
His impact on the floor has been tangible.