Since I've only recently started closely watching the Blazers again, how does Nurkic look to you? He seems to me to be youthfully inconsistent but when he gets a bug up his ass to take over, he actually can take over a quarter. I see him as the type to demand the ball four or five plays in a row like Barkley or Shaq used to soon.
I'm cool with that. If he scores on two consecutive possessions you keep getting him the ball until he misses. Maybe he misses on his 3rd attempt, but at worst then he's been reminded that he's mortal and that it's a team game. At best he continues to score and/or draw fouls! He also seems like a guy who won't often miss the pass to the open man - the way he and Harkless work together is beautiful. It only happens a couple times each game, but they're usually some of my favorite game moments.
The way he plays with Vonleh and Harkless both is great; even at 22, he is getting the ball to the open guy when he's doubled. If he wants to go HAM on the post against an inferior defender, that means you have to double him eventually, and that means leaving Vonleh or Harkless open.
Yeah, Vonleh too! Basically, he's a team player who makes everyone around him better. I think the last time we had a big who made those around him better was when we had Sabas/Sheed. Maybe an argument could be made for Camby, but that was so short-lived it's rendered meaningless IMO.
