Trail Blazers' Jusuf Nurkic: No firm target return date

The Trail Blazers have identified no clear target date for Nurkic's (lower leg) season debut, though the big man has been ruled out for at least another week, Jason Quick of The Athletic reports.

Nurkic seemed to tease an impending return after practicing fully last week, and while the activity certainly marked a notable step forward in his rehab, the development seemingly hasn't changed the Trail Blazers' approach with the center, who is 10 months removed from surgery to address compound fractures of the tibia and fibula in his left leg. At this stage, Portland simply wants to see how Nurkic's body responds to increasing his workload over a series of practices before sussing out a date for his 2019-20 debut. Once he's back in action, Nurkic will most likely be subjected to strict minutes limits and could be withheld from one half of back-to-back sets.