Jusuf Nurkic has exceeded expectations for the Portland Trail Blazers this year. The 24-year-old center has been worth every dime of the 4-year, $48 million contract that GM Neil Olshey paid him this past summer.

Nurkic has been an absolute terror as of late, and his advanced statistics are up across the board, particularly on offense where his PER and ORtg are up year-over-year.

At least part of that boost in efficiency can be directly attributed to Nurkic drawing more fouls on shots down low. According to Cleaning the Glass, Nurkic has raised his shooting fouls drawn by five percent, which has raised him up nearly 30 percentile points and made him one of the best in the NBA for his position. He’s also raised his free throw percentage by more than 10 points, making Nurkic more reliable than ever at the charity stripe.

I’ve also been impressed with the change in shot distribution for Nurkic. He’s essentially cut his midrange jumpers in half, all the way from the 10-foot mark to the 3-point line. Nurkic has replaced those attempts with higher percentage shots at the rim, and his attempts have been have been much stronger.

In seasons past, Nurkic has gone up weak at the rim. Fans have been yelling at Nurk to “dunk the basketball,” after it became a popular refrain of The Oregonian’s Joe Freeman on his podcast the past couple of seasons. I’ve been particularly hard on Nurkic for shooting with his right hand on left baseline spin moves, a particular pet peeve of mine that has produced a lot of blocked shots for the young Bosnian.

This season Nurkic has been more effective near the basket, showing flashes of patience and good decision making that I wasn't quite sure if it was possible to teach a player. Whether it be practice or study, however Nurk came to the decision to stop making bone-headed offensive plays, Blazers fans will take it.

Nurkic’s scoring down low has gone hand-in-hand with his offensive rebounding. He's up four percent in offensive rebounds grabbed off of Blazers’ field goal attempts, which has raised him 25 percentile points. He’s shown a better touch around the rim on tip-ins, making for high-quality second looks for Portland.

Finally I think the biggest thing that Blazers fans have noticed about Nurk is his ability to pass the ball this season. His advanced passing statistics are up all over the board in this regard, but it’s been his connection with Damian Lillard that has really shone through, particularly on backdoor plays.

There’s lots to cover when it comes to Nurkic. Watch the full video above to get the breakdown on Portland’s stellar center.