Nurkic says he'll make season debut vs. Rockets on March 15

Portland Trail Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic will make his season debut against the Houston Rockets on March 15, he told Yahoo Sports' Chris Haynes.

Nurkic hasn't played since suffering a compound fracture of his left tibia and fibula in a regular-season game against the Brooklyn Nets in March 2019.

The big man acknowledged his minutes will be limited upon his return.

"I never doubted I'd be back, but I had to make sure I was 100 percent," Nurkic told Haynes. "I can't wait for (March 15)."

Before suffering his gruesome leg injury, the Bosnian was in the midst of a breakout year, averaging a career-best 15.6 points and 10.4 rebounds in 72 games played.

Hassan Whiteside, who was acquired by Portland this past offseason in a trade, has been filling in admirably as the team's starting center in Nurkic's absence, producing 16.1 points, 14.2 rebounds, and an NBA-best 3.1 blocks per contest.

Nurkic says he's not sure how the coaching staff will reintegrate him into the rotation, especially with Whiteside in an established role.

"He’s my teammate. I don’t know the plans going forward, but my mind is on how I’m going to help this team make the playoffs," Nurkic added. "We just need to sacrifice our games for the team’s good, do the little things that don’t show on the stat sheet and put our games together for possibly the playoffs."

The Trail Blazers are 3 1/2 games out of the Western Conference's final playoff spot with 19 matchups remaining on the club's schedule.