Jusuf Nurkic Delighted In Damian Lillard's Denial of Trade Request

Jusuf Nurkic called the report about Damian Lillard's request a lie from the beginning.

Jack Winter

Jusuf Nurkic Delighted In Damian Lillard's Denial of Trade Request
Jusuf Nurkic Delighted In Damian Lillard's Denial of Trade Request /

Jusuf Nurkic drew a line in the sand for his future with the Trail Blazers late last month. 

Speaking with local media in his native Bosnia-Herzegovina, Nurkic was asked for his take on a report about Damian Lillard's mounting frustration with the organization potentially prompting him to force his way out of Portland.

"I don’t know what has changed with Lillard in these two days," he replied, as translated by Katy Misic of Alugy. "As far as I know, the man stays there, but if he goes, then I leave Portland as well. My opinion is that it would be stupid to let such a loyal man as Lillard go."

In the same interview, Nurkic said he was told by management after the Blazers fell to the short-handed Denver Nuggets in the first round of the playoffs that Portland wouldn't make any major trades this summer. Instead, the only significant change for the Blazers before tipoff of 2021-22 would come on the sidelines.

Nurkic then, by no surprise, was caught off guard Friday morning when Henry Abbott of TrueHoop reported that Lillard would request a trade from the Blazers "in coming days." He was so caught off guard, in fact, that Nurkic believed the rumor not to be true—and he let the world know about it on social media.

Nurkic and Lillard are very close. The latter's son, Damian Jr., calls the former "Uncle Nurk." Nurkic's nickname for Lillard is "Babo," which means "father" in Bosnian.

When Abbott responded to Nurkic on Twitter, the big man appealed to that sense of family to indicate why he should be a more definitive source on Lillard's thinking than the unnamed one who spoke with TrueHoop.

No matter TrueHoop's source, it's safe to say Abbott—a prominent NBA reporter since the mid-2000s and a former editor at ESPN.com—didn't fabricate his intel.

Don't tell that to Nurkic, though, who reveled in Lillard's denial of TrueHoop's report about an imminent trade demand several hours later.

Note that Nurkic didn't get so specific in his gloating to mention that Lillard refused to commit to the Blazers long-term. 

Considering Lillard said he expects to play one more year in Portland and Nurkic will soon have the team option on the last year of his contract guaranteed, at least they can deal with that complication together next season.

READ MORE: Damian Lillard on Reports About Trade Request—'It's Not True'

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Jack Winter
JACK WINTER

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