NBA: 5 players looking to bounce back from injuries in 2019-20

Jusuf Nurkic, Portland Trail Blazers

With only around 10 games left in the regular season last year, Portland Trail Blazers’ center Jusuf Nurkic went down with a horrific leg injury and at the time, everyone said Portland’s season was over. Now, while they may have been wrong about that, it would have been very interesting to see Nurk suit up in the playoffs as he was arguably the team’s second-best player in the regular year.

At the moment, he’s listed as out until the end of January which will still give him enough time to wear off the rust before next year’s playoffs.

Of course, it will take some time for the Bosnian Beast to get back in game shape and return to the player he was before the injury. It will also be interesting to see how he and newly acquired Hassan Whiteside fit together once he returns but presuming he makes a full recovery, expect to see the same guy we saw last year: a fringe all-star centre who can do everything you want from a traditional big.

It may help if Nurk decides to shed a few lbs off his monstrous 7-foot, 275 lb frame to ease some of the pressure he puts on the leg. A more improved jumper could also make his transition that bit easier. But I wouldn’t expect any major changes overall.

At 100 percent, the return of Nurkic might just be enough to vault the Blazers into the NBA Finals discussion out West.