Though he garnered most of the headlines, Damian Lillard wasn’t the only member of the Portland Trail Blazers traded in late September of 2023. Blazers General Manager Joe Cronin also shipped out Jusuf Nurkic, Nassir Little and Keon Johnson to the Phoenix Suns as part of the trade flurry, receiving center Deandre Ayton and forward Toumani Camara in return.
Nurkic had been inextricably linked to Lillard during his Portland tenure. The big Bosnian served as the point guard’s pick and roll partner for six and a half years. However, by the end of the 2022-23 season, the near 30-year-old’s performance could best be described as temperamental.