TUALATIN -- Only time will tell if the Portland Trail Blazers evolve into the "Bad Boys" Jusuf Nurkic longs for them to become. But, if nothing else, Nurkic will look the part.

During the first two days of training camp, the Blazers' burgeoning center has been forced to wear a protective mask on his face, a move designed to protect three dental implants he had inserted over the summer. The clear shield is uncomfortable and awkward, but it also makes him look a little more menacing, even if he insists that's not necessary.

"I always look angry," he said, smirking, following the Blazers' Tuesday morning workout in Tualatin.

Nurkic says his "Bad Boy" comments at Monday's media day were referring more to mentality and effort rather than playing style. But it's worth noting that Bill Laimbeer briefly wore a similar protective mask when he played center on the original "Bad Boys" Detroit Pistons teams in the 1980s.

Nurkic needed dental implants, of course, because his front teeth were knocked out during a February game in Toronto. As he was battling for a rebound in the fourth quarter, he took a PJ Tucker elbow to the face, which popped out his pearly whites. Afterward, Nurkic handed the crowns to head athletic trainer Geoff Clark and finished the game.

He delayed surgery until the summer so he wouldn't have to miss any games. Nurkic started wearing a protective mask two weeks ago, when he jumped into pick-up games during voluntary workouts at the Blazers' practice facility, but was recently fitted with a new version. If Nurkic truly wanted to look meaner, coach Terry Stotts said, he would have continued wearing his first mask.

"The look is better," Stotts said of his new mask. "He was wearing (what) looked like a hockey goalie mask that was colored and dark. It was scary -- a "Silence of the Lambs" type thing."

Nurkic said it's been an adjustment playing with the contraption. It impairs his court vision. It's harder to breathe. It's bulky to wear.

But Stotts said he hasn't noticed Nurkic shying away from contact or changing his playing style as a result. Also, it's temporary -- the Blazers are hopeful doctors will clear him to play mask-free in a couple weeks.

"It's a process, just to learn to play with," Nurkic said. "But (for) safety, I need to do it."

When someone suggested that he should consider wearing the mask full-time, just to look meaner -- and reinforce his "Bad Boy" pledge -- he laughed.

"I can't tell you everything," he said. "Just wait."

--Joe Freeman | jfreeman@oregonian.com 503-294-5183 @BlazerFreeman