The Trail Blazers on Wednesday announced that center Jusuf Nurkic is out for at least four weeks with plantar fasciitis in his left foot. It ends a run of some of the best basketball of Nurk's career and likely means the end to his season. Moreover, it signals an aggressive change in direction for the Blazers who were a little too good with Nurk manning the middle and now can pivot to their unstated but obvious goal of landing two lottery picks in the upcoming draft.
In case there was any confusion about the direction of the franchise, Damian Lillard made it clear that his season is done in an appearance on Draymond Green's podcast that he won't be return to the court this season. (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-draymond-green-show/id1595716948) Lillard is down with tank and ready for whatever might be next.
And whatever's next will include Keon Johnson, Drew Eubanks, and maybe even a little Brandon Williams as the Blazers let younger newcomers get extra playing time down the stretch of the season.
The show closes with a look at Portland's remaining schedule and how to watch a team without many familiar faces and very little incentive to win games.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices