Welcome Jusuf Nurkić

Saberestar · Post #1 » by **Saberestar** » Wed Sep 27, 2023 7:44 pm

New starting C for the Suns.

29 years old. 7 footer, 280 pounds. The guy is huge.

He knows how to play ball. Good passer, nice post moves, very good, very good screener/passer for handoff and has added lately a nice 3p shot.

Defensively he used to be a positive player but in the last couple of years his lack of mobility made him worse in that side of the floor. Hopefully that changes with Vogel as his HC.

Interesting detail here...Nurkic is one of the best Cs in the league to contain Jokic.

He played next to Jokic for a few years on the Nuggets and they have always had a healthy rivalry between them.

Golanator · Post #2 » by **Golanator** » Wed Sep 27, 2023 7:53 pm

Excited to watch Nurkic give effort every night he's out there. That couldn't be said for the guy he's replacing.

Rebounding, shooting, passing, toughness. I think he's going to surprise Suns fans. Hope he stays healthy.

Welcome to Phoenix.

Calvin Klein · Post #3 » by **Calvin Klein** » Wed Sep 27, 2023 7:58 pm

Meh. Don't really expect much unfortunately. Hopefully he has some kind of revival.

Dzon Dilindzer · Post #4 » by **Dzon Dilindzer** » Wed Sep 27, 2023 8:52 pm

Calvin Klein wrote:Meh. Don't really expect much unfortunately. Hopefully he has some kind of revival.

dont expect much and if he doesnt perform, you wont be disappointed

if he performs well, youll be pleasantly surprised

Post #5 » by **TASTIC** » Wed Sep 27, 2023 9:18 pm

Saberestar wrote:New starting C for the Suns.

29 years old. 7 footer, 280 pounds. The guy is huge.

He knows how to play ball. Good passer, nice post moves, very good, very good screener/passer for handoff and has added lately a nice 3p shot.

Defensively he used to be a positive player but in the last couple of years his lack of mobility has made of him worse in that side of the floor. Hopefully that changes with Vogel as his HC.

Interesting detail here...Nurkic is one of the best Cs in the league to contain Jokic.

He played next to Jokic for a few years on the Nuggets and they have always had a healthy rivalry between them.

Sadly this isn't true - I saw this mentioned a few times and Jokic absolutely roasts him, especially recently:

Nurkic's best game vs Jokic was his FIRST game vs him. Jokic has torched him last few games...

I was fine moving Ayton for another C, and this is clearly for the cash savings and because Ayton's deal was very difficult to deal after this season. But this version of Nurkic is a shell of his former self. He's played 64% of his possible games for his entire career and only 153 of a possible 310 over the past 4. He's slow, he's unathletic and he's injury prone. Not a lob threat.

He's a better rebounder, passer and looks like he gives a crap, so that's something. Ugh.

Also gutted we move Camara on so soon - plus Little's deal is 4/$28m....yikes...

Saberestar · Post #6 » by **Saberestar** » Wed Sep 27, 2023 9:23 pm

LOL

Read on Twitter

Saberestar · Post #7 » by **Saberestar** » Wed Sep 27, 2023 9:26 pm

TASTIC wrote:
Saberestar wrote:New starting C for the Suns.

29 years old. 7 footer, 280 pounds. The guy is huge.

He knows how to play ball. Good passer, nice post moves, very good, very good screener/passer for handoff and has added lately a nice 3p shot.

Defensively he used to be a positive player but in the last couple of years his lack of mobility has made of him worse in that side of the floor. Hopefully that changes with Vogel as his HC.

Interesting detail here...Nurkic is one of the best Cs in the league to contain Jokic.

He played next to Jokic for a few years on the Nuggets and they have always had a healthy rivalry between them.

Sadly this isn't true - I saw this mentioned a few times and Jokic absolutely roasts him, especially recently:
Nurkic's best game vs Jokic was his FIRST game vs him. Jokic has torched him last few games...

I was fine moving Ayton for another C, and this is clearly for the cash savings and because Ayton's deal was very difficult to deal after this season. But this version of Nurkic is a shell of his former self. He's played 64% of his possible games for his entire career and only 153 of a possible 310 over the past 4. He's slow, he's unathletic and he's injury prone. Not a lob threat.

He's a better rebounder, passer and looks like he gives a crap, so that's something. Ugh.

Also gutted we move Camara on so soon - plus Little's deal is 4/$28m....yikes...

You are talking about a Two-time MVP and look at his numbers against Nurkic...obviously those are good numbers BUT worse than his usual stats for the last 4-5 years.

Nurkic knows him pretty well and has the size and toughness to make his game a bit more uncomfortable.

NBAFAN001 · Post #8 » by **NBAFAN001** » Wed Sep 27, 2023 9:33 pm

The real challenge with Nurkic is staying healthy. When he stays healthy for extended time he gets in rhythm and becomes very productive. Also, his defense is better when he stays involved in the offensive end.

WeekapaugGroove · Post #9 » by **WeekapaugGroove** » Wed Sep 27, 2023 9:52 pm

I'm not hoping he stops Joker, more that he gets under his skin to the point where Jokers anger management comes into play and he punches Nurk.

From what I understand their bad blood is real and not your typical sports rivalry type.

Sent from my SM-F731U using RealGM mobile app

Post #10 » by **Qwigglez** » Wed Sep 27, 2023 9:53 pm

One thing I like about Nurkic is he sets a good pick and roll. This might be more of a slap to Monty than Ayton, but Ayton would always seek out that extra pass when a help defender would sink in on him. Nurkic doesn't do that, he just keeps attacking the basket.

Watch on YouTube

Saberestar · Post #11 » by **Saberestar** » Wed Sep 27, 2023 9:57 pm

Highlights from a month ago playing with his national team.

Watch on YouTube

red_power · Post #12 » by **red_power** » Wed Sep 27, 2023 10:30 pm

Nurk has some skills and he is still an OK starter at this stage of his career. Just pray he stays healthy in key stretches of the season.

sunskerr · Post #13 » by **sunskerr** » Thu Sep 28, 2023 12:16 am

Just stay healthy for the playoffs and be slightly above average.

Not asking for a lot from you.

RTG HD · Post #14 » by **RTG HD** » Thu Sep 28, 2023 1:58 am

Saberestar wrote:He played next to Jokic for a few years on the Nuggets and they have always had a healthy rivalry between them.

Nothing healthy about their rivalry. It is absolute hate between them. I am hoping Nurk is healthy for you guys and he finally gets the better of Jokic in the playoffs. Best of luck to both the Suns and Bucks next season, I would love to see both in the finals.

KdoubleDees23 · Post #15 » by **KdoubleDees23** » Thu Sep 28, 2023 3:05 am

Saberestar wrote:New starting C for the Suns.

29 years old. 7 footer, 280 pounds. The guy is huge.

He knows how to play ball. Good passer, nice post moves, very good, very good screener/passer for handoff and has added lately a nice 3p shot.

Defensively he used to be a positive player but in the last couple of years his lack of mobility made him worse in that side of the floor. Hopefully that changes with Vogel as his HC.

Interesting detail here...Nurkic is one of the best Cs in the league to contain Jokic.

He played next to Jokic for a few years on the Nuggets and they have always had a healthy rivalry between them.

Dude avg 46 games a season.

RedIndian · Post #16 » by **RedIndian** » Thu Sep 28, 2023 4:46 am

His fit on offense with the 3 stars will be much better on offense than Ayton.

Ayton was primarily a roll man, but Nurkic can pop out to 3, and is a very nice passer on both short rolls and DHO actions. Expecting the offense to be absolutely zipping with the spacing, screening and passing that Nurkic will provide.

Can't see us not being a top 3 offense, if not the best given the talent we have.

Health and defense are another matter. How Vogel builds even a top 10 defense with this personnel will be interesting to see. Nurkic will be ok in the drop, but will get killed if he's asked to switch even for small minutes of time.

This trade would have been palatable if we'd gotten back a starting calibre wing. I'm hoping we can combine Little/Keon and 2nds for some sort of wing upgrade. A Kenrich Williams type would be perfect.

Saberestar · Post #17 » by **Saberestar** » Thu Sep 28, 2023 5:10 am

RTG HD wrote:
Saberestar wrote:He played next to Jokic for a few years on the Nuggets and they have always had a healthy rivalry between them.

Nothing healthy about their rivalry. It is absolute hate between them. I am hoping Nurk is healthy for you guys and he finally gets the better of Jokic in the playoffs. Best of luck to both the Suns and Bucks next season, I would love to see both in the finals.

Ok, I didn't know it.

Do you know what is the primary reason behind that hate?

RTG HD · Post #18 » by **RTG HD** » Thu Sep 28, 2023 5:27 am

Saberestar wrote:
RTG HD wrote:
Saberestar wrote:He played next to Jokic for a few years on the Nuggets and they have always had a healthy rivalry between them.

Nothing healthy about their rivalry. It is absolute hate between them. I am hoping Nurk is healthy for you guys and he finally gets the better of Jokic in the playoffs. Best of luck to both the Suns and Bucks next season, I would love to see both in the finals.

Ok, I didn't know it.

Do you know what is the primary reason behind that hate?

Not entirely sure what happened between them in Denver but unfortunately Serbians and Bosnians tend to still not get along.

Mulhollanddrive · Post #19 » by **Mulhollanddrive** » Thu Sep 28, 2023 10:01 am

Now we need both Nurkic and Eubanks to be hits (especially defensively) or we will be relying on players we dont want to for minutes in playoffs. Maybe there will be flexibility come the deadline but fixing problems typically doesn't happen with mid-season trades.

Dzon Dilindzer · Post #20 » by **Dzon Dilindzer** » Thu Sep 28, 2023 10:44 am

RTG HD wrote:
Saberestar wrote:He played next to Jokic for a few years on the Nuggets and they have always had a healthy rivalry between them.

Nothing healthy about their rivalry. It is absolute hate between them. I am hoping Nurk is healthy for you guys and he finally gets the better of Jokic in the playoffs. Best of luck to both the Suns and Bucks next season, I would love to see both in the finals.

thats not true, both nurk and jokic said it

theyre not friends, but theres no hate between them at all, they always greet and have a chat, maybe a drink behind the scenes