Jusuf Nurkic Stops By 'The Jump' To Update Progress On His Broken Wrist
The Trail Blazers tipoff their truncated second half of the season on Thursday against the Phoenix Suns at Moda Center.
Jusuf Nurkic won't be available for his team's second-half debut. As he told Rachel Nichols during a Tuesday appearance on ESPN's The Jump, though, the Bosnian Beast's long-awaited return to the floor is clearly on the horizon.
"Wrist is doing great, as you can see," Nurkic said. "Pretty much almost there. It's kind of finishing up. I just need to make sure I'm not doing shortcuts now, because it's almost there. I'm expecting to be somewhere in a timeline after All-Star break, obviously. But if not, right after All-Star – I think a week or two – I'll be just fine."
Nurkic suffered a fractured right wrist in Portland's loss to the Indiana Pacers on January 14. Initial expectations placed his return to the floor at approximately eight weeks out from the time of his injury, suggesting Nurkic would be available to play in the middle of March.
The Blazers announced on March 4 that Nurkic "continues to increase his on-court activity and will be reevaluated later next week."
Nurkic lauded his teammates for rising to the challenge during the tandem absences of he and C.J. McCollum.
"I think what we was able to accomplish during our missed time was tremendous," Nurkic said. "I think the team played great. A lot of people stepped up, which we needed in those moments."
Nurkic, who averaged 9.8 points and 7.7 rebounds in 23.3 minutes per game before going down with injury, expressed optimism about Portland's standing relative to Western Conference title contenders, too.
"I think we're gonna be right there," he said.
The Bosnia native also detailed his charity efforts in his home country, sweeping endeavors aiming to combat COVID-19, family hunger, breast cancer and more.