Jusuf Nurkic, Portland Trail Blazers
Nurkic’s hot finish to last season following a trade to Portland may actually hurt his case for this particular award. The big man posted averages of 15 and 11 in the month of March, and detractors will point to that as proof that he was already a very good player last season. Nurkic is immensely talented on the offensive end of the court, but his defense needs serious work and he must avoid mental lapses.
Playing with Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum also limits his ceiling, something that will prevent gaudy numbers that Nurkic may be capable of as a “good stats on a bad team” guy.
Still, he’ll have his fair share of big games, as he reminds me a lot of DeMarcus Cousins offensively. That’s sure to get him some attention when it comes to award time.