The devastating injury star Portland Trail Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic suffered late last month could have derailed an otherwise promising season for the team.
Instead, Portland has rallied around Nurkic to come out victorious in four of the five games he’s missed to the leg injury. That included a 116-89 win over the Memphis Grizzlies — Portland’s 50th of the season.
It’s in this that the young center just earned a $1.2 million bonus on the four-year, $48 million deal he signed with Portland back in July.
“Win no. 50 for Portland has now earned injured center Jusuf Nurkic a $1.25M bonus,” ESPN’s Bobby Marks noted Wednesday evening. “Nurkic had to appear in a minimum of 70 games (played in 72) and the Trail Blazers win 50 games. The bonus will cost the team an additional $2.19M toward the luxury tax.”
It might not make up for the fractured leg Nurkic suffered against the Brooklyn Nets on March 25, but it sure does help.
Nurkic, 24, was averaging 15.6 points and 10.4 rebounds while shooting at a 51 percent clip from the field prior to going down with said injury.