There’s a weird reason a Portland Trail Blazer is practicing with the Warriors’ G League team

The Blazers are among two teams without affiliated G League franchises. (The Denver Nuggets are the other team.) As a result, Nurkic is taking the uncommon step of practicing with the Warriors' G League squad in Santa Cruz, according to Blazers beat reporter Casey Holdahl. Evidently, Santa Cruz is about as close as a G League franchise gets to the Pacific Northwest, which likely influenced the location of Nurkic's assignment.