In a pretty surprising move on Sunday, the Portland Trail Blazers and Denver Nuggets, both in the Western Conference Playoff race, swapped centers.
Portland sent Mason Plumlee and a second-round pick to Denver in exchange for Jusuf Nurkic and a first-round pick.
For Denver, this is definitely an upgrade inside. Plumlee, 26, is having a tremendous season. He's averaging 11.1 points, 8.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists while shooting at a stellar 53 percent clip from the field. Though, look for Plumlee's production to drop a tad with talented youngster Nikola Jokic already in Denver.
On the other side, Portland was able to bring in a high-upside young big in Nurkic, who is averaging 8.0 points and 5.8 rebounds in 17.9 minutes of action per game. Look for him to take on a larger role with Portland, potentially putting up 30-plus minutes per game.
Portland also now boasts three first-round picks in the 2017 NBA Draft