The Trail Blazers have Jusuf Nurkic's back.
Even though Nurkic is out for the season after suffering a gruesome leg injury last week, he earned a $1.25 million bonus despite not setting foot on the court on Wednesday, according to ESPN.
His bonus comes courtesy of Portland's 50th win of the year in a 116-89 victory over the Grizzlies.
The reason for the bump is because Nurkic had a clause in his contract stating if Portland were to win 50 games and Nurkic were to play at least 70 games he would receive the bonus. He finished the year playing 72 games.
Win no. 50 for Portland has now earned injured center Jusuf Nurkic a $1.25M bonus. Nurkic had to appear in a minimum of 70 games (played in 72) and the Trail Blazers win 50 games. The bonus will cost the team an additional $2.19M toward the luxury tax.... https://t.co/TpNzITvQi1
— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) April 4, 2019
Nurkic will not play the rest of this season and could very well miss all of next year after suffering compound fractures to his left tibia and fibula in an overtime win over the Nets on March 25.
He is under contract with the Trail Blazers until at least 2020-21 as he signed a four-year, $48 million deal with Portland before this season. He has an option year for 2021-22.
He will be due $12 million in base salary next season, according to Spotrac.
