Nikola Jokic and Jusuf Nurkic: A necessary trade that made both Nuggets and Blazers better

If you seek a turning point for when the Nuggets began their ascension to NBA postseason regulars and securing homecourt advantage three consecutive years, look no further than Dec. 15, 2016.

It marks the date that Nuggets coach Michael Malone officially benched Jusuf Nurkic as the team’s starting center. His replacement? A 21-year-old Nikola Jokic.

Funny. Their opponent that night just so happened to be the Trail Blazers.

Longtime Nuggets fans know what happened next. A disgruntled Nurkic asked out of Denver. The team obliged a few months later trading him to Portland. And, in retrospect, the move helped vault each team to their current spot as first-round foes in the NBA playoffs.

Jokic developed into a franchise cornerstone and eventual MVP frontrunner. The Blazers provided Nurkic the chance to thrive as a starter. On Saturday night, old teammates meet up once again for Game 1 at Ball Arena — and for the first time in the playoffs.

“He’s a good guy,” Jokic said. “He was with us, it seems like a while ago, and he’s a talented player.”

“As short as it was, it was fun, especially the time we spent together,” Nurkic added.

Duane Burleson, The Associated Press

Detroit Pistons’ Andre Drummond, left, loses the ball while going to the basket against Denver Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic (15) and Jusuf Nurkic (23) during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Auburn Hills, Mich., on Saturday, Nov. 5, 2016. “Now, we could play together”

It’s easy to understand why the 6-foot-11 centers with Balkan roots — Jokic (Serbia) and Nurkic (Bosnia) — share a bond that goes beyond basketball. Rewind back to the 2016-17 NBA season, though, and their pairing simply didn’t work as teammates in Denver.

“We tried to play them both together early on,” Malone said. “It didn’t have the results that we necessarily wanted.”

Those Nuggets, with a starting backcourt of Emmanuel Mudiay and Gary Harris, began the season 9-16. The team’s young centers with similar talents were unable to establish chemistry. Jokic reflected on the experience bluntly, saying, at “that moment we kind of didn’t know what to do” and they “couldn’t play together.”

It led Denver to send Nurkic and a first-round draft pick to Portland in exchange for center Mason Plumlee, a second-round pick, and cash. The Jokic-Nurkic experiment failed.

However, after years of developing apart, Jokic views the situation in a different light.

“We were both young. Now, we could play together,” Jokic said. “His passing is good and how he’s reading the game. His basketball IQ is really good. He’s a really big body down there.”

Nurkic initially expressed frustration with how his Nuggets tenure ended, telling The Denver Post in early 2018 that he has “no relationship” with Malone. However, Nurkic did not sever all ties with the organization.

David Zalubowski, The Associated Press

Portland Trail Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic (27) hugs former teammate, Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic after the second half of an NBA basketball game in Denver on Monday, Jan. 22, 2018.

“I always stay in touch with (Nuggets president of basketball operations) Tim Connelly, the guy who drafted me,” Nurkic said. “Basically, they gave me a chance to go to the team I picked in the first place. That was probably the best thing that happened for me to come to Portland.”

The Nuggets agree.

“It worked out for everybody,” Malone said. “Nurk had a chance to become their starting center and has been instrumental in all their success. And, obviously, we know who our center is. He’s the league MVP. We’ve done everything to build around Nikola Jokic.”

Blazers coach Terry Stotts said:  “That trade worked out really well for us. … (Nurkic) wasn’t in great shape when we got him. But you just saw the talent that he had and how he was going to help us.”

“He’s been huge”

Nurkic underwent leg surgery in 2019 that held him out of the Blazers’ thrilling second-round playoff series win over Denver in seven games. He is now healthy and productive, averaging 11.5 points, 9 rebounds, and 3.4 assists per game.

“He’s been huge,” Blazers point guard Damian Lillard said. “(Nurkic) gives us a different look offensively with his ability to pass and make plays. Whether that’s from the top of the key or from the block. … He’s great at scoring in pick-and-rolls and playmaking out of pick-and-rolls. His size and his presence defensively. How versatile he is being able to switch pretty much one-through-five and move his feet. He contests shots at the rim and blocks shots.

“He makes us a completely different team, especially when he’s healthy and when he’s right.”

Looking back, though, even Nurkic won’t deny that the Nuggets were wise to build around Jokic.

“We have a lot of similarities as far as feeling for the game. Obviously, it’s different when all of the sets are for him and I have zero sets for myself,” Nurkic said. “He’s been tremendous this year. … Through the scouting report we’re going through, it just amazes me the system they put around (Jokic). Mike and Tim, they did a great job.”