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When Jusuf Nurkic’s four-year deal to return to the Blazers was announced, there were conflicting reports on the total value of the contract. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweeted that the deal was for $48 million, while The Vertical’s Shams Charania reported the deal to be worth $53 million.
Eric Pincus from Basketball Insiders has shed some light on the Blazers agreement with Nurkic:
Jusuf Nurkic has a $54 mil deal w/the Blazers but $6 mil is in unlikely incentives - starts at $11.1 mil ramping up for 2 years then back down in 21/22 at $12 mil even - last year $4 mil guaranteed until 7/1/21 @BBallInsiders
— Eric Pincus (@EricPincus) July 9, 2018
According to our own Eric Griffith, the structure of Nurkic’s deal gives the Trail Blazers a possible path to get under the luxury tax threshold before the end of the season, if they decide to go that route:
.@EricPincus' estimate of Nurk's salary tentatively confirms that Blazers can slip ~$600k below tax line by dumping Aminu mid-season, & cutting Baldwin & Papagiannis
— Eric Griffith (@EricG_NBA) July 10, 2018
Some of that $600k would then be used on partial season signing to get roster back to 14https://t.co/sxX0XhI2lP
Nurkic, 23, averaged 14.3 points and 9 rebounds while playing a career-high 79 games last season.