Welcome Jusuf Nurkić

[sashaturiaf]

I wouldn't even consider Ayton a better player. He has has better shooting skills and the agility to cover the perimeter.

Anything other than those and Nurk is better including motor, boxing out, IQ, passing, screening, ball handling, rebounding, getting free throws, etc.

I can live with a couple of dumb Nurk plays per game versus being extremely frustrated when Ayton isn't even trying for half a game.

Stats Per 36 minutes for

DA 12.5p/15.9r/1.5a/2.7s/1.2b/0.5ft
Nurk 12.9p/11.7r/6.1a/2s/1.6b/5.1ft

The difference in assists and free throws is quite stark

DA is more of a finesse player, while Nurkic uses his body. Definitely love that about Nurkic because his shooting is atrocious for a big man.

I actually think this article written for the Oregon state newspaper was a fairly accurate assessment of Nurkic (this past summer).
https://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/2023/04/jusuf-nurkic-wants-to-remain-with-the-portland-trail-blazers-but-contract-could-help-facilitate-blockbuster-trade.html

A big knock on Nurkic is missing shots near the basket. In another article It was mentioned that Nurkic was taking too many floaters early in the 2021-22 season, and Billups told him not to shoot those anymore since the Blazers have plenty of guards to take floaters, and that Nurkic should be dominating the paint. Totally agree with that, and I am hopeful when the team is at full strength Nurkic gets these easy buckets right under the rim.

Also... a bit annoyed about that article linked above as it says if the Blazers plan on trading Nurkic, they likely have to include Sharpe or Anfernee Simons. Welp... Suns didn't get either of those guys

They were taking on a bad contract too though. DA's contract is a lot for a rebuilding team if you assume he isn't going to improve much.

I don't think DA was really a desirable asset at all.

I agree. Who actually wants to pay a 5 the max in the NBA today unless if he had MVP or at least all star level impact, which DA wasn't even close to providing.

DA was a meh asset value wise and the Suns had about half a season to trade him, since once the new CBA kicks in next season we wouldn't be able to split his contract into several smaller ones in a trade.

Say what you want about Nurk, Allen and Little bit they all can play a bit and also crucially have very tradeable contracts. If they don't work out we can always get another piece back for them.

[bwgood77]

DA is more of a finesse player, while Nurkic uses his body. Definitely love that about Nurkic because his shooting is atrocious for a big man.

I actually think this article written for the Oregon state newspaper was a fairly accurate assessment of Nurkic (this past summer).
https://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/2023/04/jusuf-nurkic-wants-to-remain-with-the-portland-trail-blazers-but-contract-could-help-facilitate-blockbuster-trade.html

A big knock on Nurkic is missing shots near the basket. In another article It was mentioned that Nurkic was taking too many floaters early in the 2021-22 season, and Billups told him not to shoot those anymore since the Blazers have plenty of guards to take floaters, and that Nurkic should be dominating the paint. Totally agree with that, and I am hopeful when the team is at full strength Nurkic gets these easy buckets right under the rim.

Also... a bit annoyed about that article linked above as it says if the Blazers plan on trading Nurkic, they likely have to include Sharpe or Anfernee Simons. Welp... Suns didn't get either of those guys

They were taking on a bad contract too though. DA's contract is a lot for a rebuilding team if you assume he isn't going to improve much.

I don't think DA was really a desirable asset at all.

I agree. Who actually wants to pay a 5 the max in the NBA today unless if he had MVP or at least all star level impact, which DA wasn't even close to providing.

DA was a meh asset value wise and the Suns had about half a season to trade him, since once the new CBA kicks in next season we wouldn't be able to split his contract into several smaller ones in a trade.

Say what you want about Nurk, Allen and Little bit they all can play a bit and also crucially have very tradeable contracts. If they don't work out we can always get another piece back for them.

You guys just got done justifying why Nurkic's untradeable contract was ok to take without one of those good young players, saying DA's was as well, and now you are saying it's a very tradeable contract we could get an asset back for..lol.

Allen is expiring so I guess we could trade him for something maybe. Little makes $28 million over 4 years...not a lot but he's not really playable, so I don't know if he will be very desirable.

I seriously doubt any team will want Nurkic at that price since he isn't really starter quality...I can't think of a team that would want him, let alone give up an asset for him.

[garrick]

We all said when the trade went down that DA is definitely the better player. Nobody disagreed with that. Ayton’s lazy play is still better than Nurk’s best play.

Nurk will be better when Book and Beal return. Right now, we’re asking Nurk to do things offensively that he may be doing soon but a lot less and will come easier when the attention is drawn to Book, KD and Beal.

I still much rather have Ayton off the team. His contract was one of the worst in the league. I’m OK with Nurk. He’s not the best option but Nurk is a really good passer and sets solid screens. I think those things are really undervalued with him. It will get better soon with him.

DA didn’t wanna be in Phoenix. We had to move him. While it hurts to lose Camara, Grayson Allen will be a very important piece for us this year.


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I agree we had to move Ayton, but just was hoping for a better package. I am not sure why people care about his contract, as we are so far over the cap we never would have had cap space. Nurkic being cheaper doesn't matter...unless people care about Ishbia saving money.

Unless the rationale is getting Grayson Allen with the extra salary difference (and Little), and he helps some, but doesn't really make up for the difference.

Would have loved to at least get someone like Capela. A guy like Lopez would have been perfect....or Porzingis, and I wouldn't be surprised if Washington would have dealt us him for Ayton had we gotten into that earlier.

Ayton is far from the worst player with a 30m per contract.

MPJ and Jerami Grant also have similar contracts and both are pretty 1 dimensional players who don't provide anything when their shots aren't falling.

Agreed we did not get enough for Ayton & neither Little nor Nurkic look like assets another team would covet. Allen is nice but he might be gone next season anyway since he's an expiring.

[sashaturiaf]

They were taking on a bad contract too though. DA's contract is a lot for a rebuilding team if you assume he isn't going to improve much.

I don't think DA was really a desirable asset at all.

I agree. Who actually wants to pay a 5 the max in the NBA today unless if he had MVP or at least all star level impact, which DA wasn't even close to providing.

DA was a meh asset value wise and the Suns had about half a season to trade him, since once the new CBA kicks in next season we wouldn't be able to split his contract into several smaller ones in a trade.

Say what you want about Nurk, Allen and Little bit they all can play a bit and also crucially have very tradeable contracts. If they don't work out we can always get another piece back for them.

You guys just got done justifying why Nurkic's untradeable contract was ok to take without one of those good young players, saying DA's was as well, and now you are saying it's a very tradeable contract we could get an asset back for..lol.

Allen is expiring so I guess we could trade him for something maybe. Little makes $28 million over 4 years...not a lot but he's not really playable, so I don't know if he will be very desirable.

I seriously doubt any team will want Nurkic at that price since he isn't really starter quality...I can't think of a team that would want him, let alone give up an asset for him.

- Nurk is expiring in a seasons time and an expiring of that size is perfect for bringing back another role guy.

- bird rights are held with Allen. Bring him back on a reasonable deal and that's another tradeable contract. We might have a surplus of SGs now but we can't do that with Gordon so Allen is good insurance.

- little hasn't even been given a chance so how can we say he's not playable. He's still young so if he breaks out we've got the most desirable archetype in the NBA on a cheap contract. That's big upside.

Yeah I'd rather have all that rather than one Ayton albatross that becomes untradeable after this season.

[dremill24]

Why would Ayton all of a sudden be untradeable after this season? He's just gonna **** the bed that hard?

[garrick]

Why is Ayton all of a sudden untradeable after this season? He's just gonna **** the bed that hard?

Jerami Grant is a lot harder of a contract to offload.

Can't defend, can't rebound and is a black hole on offense plus he's already 29 years old which is a good 4 years older than Ayton.

His contract runs until 2028-2029 so he is on the hook for a long time.

[Qwigglez]

- Nurk is expiring in a seasons time and an expiring of that size is perfect for bringing back another role guy.

- bird rights are held with Allen. Bring him back on a reasonable deal and that's another tradeable contract. We might have a surplus of SGs now but we can't do that with Gordon so Allen is good insurance.

- little hasn't even been given a chance so how can we say he's not playable. He's still young so if he breaks out we've got the most desirable archetype in the NBA on a cheap contract. That's big upside.

Yeah I'd rather have all that rather than one Ayton albatross that becomes untradeable after this season.

Nurk and Ayton both expire after the 2025-26 season. There are plenty of players that are within the 20% salary range of Ayton including players like Julius Randle, CJ MCollum, Middelton, Grant, Poole, Vassell, Bane, MPJ, Ingram, Murray, KP. I don't think Ayton is as untradeable as you think.

[lilfishi22]

The NBA has proven time and time again, very very very few contract are truly untradeable. It's just what you're willing to give up to move a contract that is the point of contention. DA will be tradeable but to get something halfway decent back, he'll need to be more than a 10/13 C who has gotten to line 3 times in 211 minutes because no one is trading anything of value for that and his max contract

[dremill24]

Why is Ayton all of a sudden untradeable after this season? He's just gonna **** the bed that hard?

Jerami Grant is a lot harder of a contract to offload.

Can't defend, can't rebound and is a black hole on offense plus he's already 29 years old which is a good 4 years older than Ayton.

His contract runs until 2028-2029 so he is on the hook for a long time.

Im reasonably certain he was citing CBA restrictions for 2nd apron teams making him untradeable when I asked (but has it backwards). But was just trying to confirm first. But now everyone piling on a different argument so that backfired lol.

[enigmatics]

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[Saberestar]

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[lonea]

10 games in, I 120% want Nurkic over ayton

This guy is really a poor man's joker.

[bwgood77]

Read on Twitter

Huge game for him. Hopefully he can keep it up. Obviously I don't expect that, but even 12, 10 and 4 or 5 would be nice if he can stay at around 2 turnovers a game.

[spanishninja]

Read on Twitter

Huge game for him. Hopefully he can keep it up. Obviously I don't expect that, but even 12, 10 and 4 or 5 would be nice if he can stay at around 2 turnovers a game.

i mean, currently he is basically right at 10/10/5. I can't see him finish quite as badly from the rim going forward once we are fully healthy, even with his history of being a bad finisher.

[Jdiddy701]

10 games in, I 120% want Nurkic over ayton

This guy is really a poor man's joker.

I did not like Ayton and am not that high on Nurk. The difference to me is the $$$ between the two, and factoring in that we also have Grayson Allen, who has been really good for us. I prefer DA than Nurk but would still make the trade if that makes sense. I do wish we would have kept Camara though. I think our ceiling as a team remains the same with/without this trade so it’s whatever to me.


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[enigmatics]

10 games in, I 120% want Nurkic over ayton

This guy is really a poor man's joker.

I did not like Ayton and am not that high on Nurk. The difference to me is the $$$ between the two, and factoring in that we also have Grayson Allen, who has been really good for us. I prefer DA than Nurk but would still make the trade if that makes sense. I do wish we would have kept Camara though. I think our ceiling as a team remains the same with/without this trade so it’s whatever to me.


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Respectfully, I find your last comment to be wild. The combination of Nurk/Allen raise the ceiling considerably.

[WeekapaugGroove]

We all said when the trade went down that DA is definitely the better player. Nobody disagreed with that. Ayton’s lazy play is still better than Nurk’s best play.

Nurk will be better when Book and Beal return. Right now, we’re asking Nurk to do things offensively that he may be doing soon but a lot less and will come easier when the attention is drawn to Book, KD and Beal.

I still much rather have Ayton off the team. His contract was one of the worst in the league. I’m OK with Nurk. He’s not the best option but Nurk is a really good passer and sets solid screens. I think those things are really undervalued with him. It will get better soon with him.

DA didn’t wanna be in Phoenix. We had to move him. While it hurts to lose Camara, Grayson Allen will be a very important piece for us this year.


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I agree we had to move Ayton, but just was hoping for a better package. I am not sure why people care about his contract, as we are so far over the cap we never would have had cap space. Nurkic being cheaper doesn't matter...unless people care about Ishbia saving money.

Unless the rationale is getting Grayson Allen with the extra salary difference (and Little), and he helps some, but doesn't really make up for the difference.

Would have loved to at least get someone like Capela. A guy like Lopez would have been perfect....or Porzingis, and I wouldn't be surprised if Washington would have dealt us him for Ayton had we gotten into that earlier.

? It's not Ishbias pocket book it's the penalties for being over the 2nd apron 3 out of 5 years that matters cap/contact wise. There are real draft/roster penalties that they really need to avoid.

So having Nurk at basically half the cost giving around the same production is huge for the suns and how they can build the roster the next few years. Heck by some advanced stats Nurk has been slightly better that DA this season.

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[enigmatics]

It's not Ishbias pocket book it's the penalties for being over the 2nd apron 3 out of 5 years that matters cap/contact wise. There are real draft/roster penalties that they really need to avoid.

So having Nurk at basically half the cost giving around the same production is huge for the suns and how they can build the roster the next few years. Heck by some advanced stats Nurk has been slightly better that DA this season.

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Some guys won't even pay any attention to the advanced stats unfortunately.

[spanishninja]

It's not Ishbias pocket book it's the penalties for being over the 2nd apron 3 out of 5 years that matters cap/contact wise. There are real draft/roster penalties that they really need to avoid.

So having Nurk at basically half the cost giving around the same production is huge for the suns and how they can build the roster the next few years. Heck by some advanced stats Nurk has been slightly better that DA this season.

Sent from my SM-F731U using RealGM mobile app

Some guys won't even pay any attention to the advanced stats unfortunately.

I think advanced stats can be kind of misleading just like with traditional box. like, Nurk has a high DBPM but part of that is because we don't have him in there when we know that he would be cooked on defense. It really speaks to the benefit of having a guy like Eubanks backing him up.

[WeekapaugGroove]

It's not Ishbias pocket book it's the penalties for being over the 2nd apron 3 out of 5 years that matters cap/contact wise. There are real draft/roster penalties that they really need to avoid.

So having Nurk at basically half the cost giving around the same production is huge for the suns and how they can build the roster the next few years. Heck by some advanced stats Nurk has been slightly better that DA this season.

Sent from my SM-F731U using RealGM mobile app

Some guys won't even pay any attention to the advanced stats unfortunately.

I think advanced stats can be kind of misleading just like with traditional box. like, Nurk has a high DBPM but part of that is because we don't have him in there when we know that he would be cooked on defense. It really speaks to the benefit of having a guy like Eubanks backing him up.

I think lineup flexibility was an aspect of this trade. You can play Nurk 18 minutes and not close out a game if it's a bad matchup and it's not going to be some big post game topic like it would be if you do that with DA.

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