Damian Lillard said his working relationship with LaMarcus Aldridge informed how he treats Jusuf Nurkic.

When Lillard joined the Blazers, he looked for Aldridge for mentorship but was left to fend for himself.

“It’s going to sound crazy,’’ Lillard said, “but it’s almost what I wish I had with LaMarcus.’’

“Damian Lillard,’’ Nurkic said, “is the best thing that has happened to me in my life.’’

“Me and LaMarcus had a good relationship. We never had a single argument. We really got along,’’ Lillard said. “I’m just saying the stuff I want to go out of my way to do for (Nurkic), is the stuff I wish I got from LaMarcus.’’

Aldridge has a reputation for being an introvert and he eventually was rumored to have an issue with how beloved Lillard became in Portland.

“I wish it was like more of a brotherhood, more of a line of communication, with me as young player and him as an All-Star,’’ Lillard said.

“It wasn’t his personality (to reach out),’’ Lillard said. “But as a younger player, I came into the league wishing … and thinking he was going to take me under his wing, like his lil’ bro.”

Jusuf Nurkic requested a trade from the Denver Nuggets in April of 2016 and again in December before he was moved to Portland in February of 2017.

Nikola Jokic had emerged as the Nuggets' starting center during the 15-16 season while Nurkic was rehabilitating his left knee.

The Nuggets attempted to mend the relationship with Nurkic and promised he would open the season as a starter, but he realized there was a catch.

“In the first game, I only played three quarters,” Nurkić said. “I had 23 points and 9 rebounds. I’m playing a good game, we’re winning and I’m not playing in the fourth quarter? From that point, I could kind of see that something was wrong.”

The Nuggets were attempting to make it work with Nurkic and Jokic playing together, but Malone pulled Nurkic from the starting lineup after 25 games. Nurkic and his agent, Aylton Tesch, requested a trade for a second time.

“I believe you can develop guards together. But two centers? No way,” Nurkić said. “I don’t want to make this a big drama like KD. I was never on the same page with the coach and the front office. It just came to the point where I needed to go. My career was on the line.”

Nurkic received criticism from the local media for how he handled the situation.

“People assume I had an attitude problem and people like to make up stories that paint me as a bad guy,” he explained. “Once I asked for a trade, there were even more rumors that I wasn’t happy. But I shouldn’t be happy! No one in that situation should be happy. I put in the hard work to play and someone was holding me down.”

Al-Farouq Aminu is expected to miss two to three weeks with a right ankle sprain.

Aminu is averaging 9.4 points, 8.1 rebounds and a team-high 1.3 blocks in 30.2 minutes per game. 

"It's tough," Blazers point guard Damian Lillard said on Thursday night. "Chief (Aminu) is a huge part of our team. He does a lot of things that might not get mentioned all the time, might not show up on the stat sheet, but he's as big a part of our team as just about anybody. Whatever the situation might be somebody's going to have to step up and we're going to have to figure out a way to get some wins."