Nurkic loving life with Blazers: 'I don’t want this to end'

Portland Trail Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic has already experienced a decade's worth of ups and downs in under four seasons, but he's happy where he's at now.

Nurkic was traded to Portland last year after spending the first two-and-a-half seasons of his career with the Denver Nuggets. The Bosnian entered the league with a high ceiling, but after some injuries and miscommunication with Nuggets head coach Mike Malone, Nurkic knew it was time for change.

"I needed a change of scenery. Both sides needed it," Nurkic told Ben Golliver of Sport Illustrated. "I’m thankful Denver let me go where I wanted to go. If I was doing all the bad things that people said, the Nuggets wouldn’t have traded me where I wanted to go, and they probably would have gotten a way better deal than they got."

The change has been beneficial for both sides, as the Nuggets can focus on utilizing Nikola Jokic, while Portland may have potentially found a franchise cornerstone.

"Portland gave me the situation I always wanted: the fans, the city, the teammates, and two guards who can really hoop." said Nurkic. "It sounds perfect to me. I don’t want this to end. I want to be here."

Nurkic is averaging 14.6 points and 7.2 rebounds through his first 16 games of the season.