Jusuf Nurkic agrees to 4-year, $70 million deal with Portland

In 2021-22, Jusuf Nurkic averaged a double-double for the Trail Blazers.

The Trail Blazers have re-signed talented center Jusuf Nurkic to a new multiyear contract.

According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, the deal is reportedly a four-year, $70 million contract.

Nurkic has spent the last 5 1/2 seasons with the Blazers and has been hobbled by various injuries the past three seasons. However, last season he appeared in 56 games, averaging 15.0 ppg, 11.1 rpg, 2.8 apg and 1.1 bpg.

Nurkic was shut down for the final 22 games of last season with plantar fasciitis as Portland endured an injury-marred season. Star guard Damian Lillard was the most significant of the Blazers’ injuries this season. He played in just 29 games, the result of a nagging abdominal injury that required surgery in January.

The Blazers finished 27-55 this season, their worst record since 2005-06 when they won just 21 games. Portland also finished 13th in the Western Conference in Chauncey Billups’ first year as the Blazers’ head coach, snapping a streak of eight straight playoff appearances.

Portland named Joe Cronin as their new GM in the offseason after he served in an interim role since December.

Cronin has since been reshaping the Blazers’ roster, making several trades before the February deadline that put the team under the luxury tax threshold and freed up cap space. In the most significant move, guard CJ McCollum was traded to New Orleans, ending his lengthy run as Lillard’s partner in Portland’s backcourt.

The Blazers have held true to their plans to reshape the roster in the offseason. They traded for Detroit’s Jerami Grant in the days leading up to the Draft — a move that has yet to be officially approved by the NBA. Grant averaged 19.2 ppg in 47 games with the Pistons this past season and has seen his numbers greatly improve over the last two years. In his first six seasons, he averaged 9.3 ppg while playing for Philadelphia, Oklahoma City and Denver.

Portland also got some youth in the offseason as well, adding Shaedon Sharpe with the No. 7 pick in the 2022 draft to put him in a backcourt that will include Simons, Lillard and Josh Hart.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.