2024 Suns Player Review: Jusuf Nurkic gave us a better season than we expected

Welcome to our Phoenix Suns Season in Review series where we do individual PLAYER REVIEWS of each man who contributed in the 2023-24 season. We go through the roster to analyze what went right/wrong for them, and what they can do to get better for next season.

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It is the final installment of the 2023-24 player reviews. We’ve traveled through the entire roster and we’ve come to the end with a player who was widely regarded, before the season commenced, as the deciding factor between success and failure.

When Jusuf Nurkic came to the Phoenix Suns last September in exchange for Deandre Ayton, I wondered whether or not it was a good deal. Nurkic was frequently injured, considerably less athletic, and had certainly past his prime. It was a topic of discussion: if the Sun season fails, was it this transaction that we would refer to as the reason why?

It wasn’t.

There were many other factors that contributed to the Suns’ collapse. You can put a handful of those on the shoulders of Nurkic. Did he have challenges against Rudy Gobert and the Minnesota Timberwolves? Sure. But the rest of his team, especially as it pertains to attitude and effort, underperformed. If you’re playing the blame game, Nurk Daddy is on the list, but he’s not as high as you might’ve expected.

Will he be on the team next season? That’ll be answered elsewhere. This is his 2023-24 season in review.

Jusuf Nurkic

• Position: Center
• Vitals: 7’0”, 290 pounds, 29 years old
• Experience: 9 years
• Stats: 76 GP, 10.9 PPG (51.0 FG%, 24.4 3PT%,64.0 FT%), 4.0 APG, 11.0 RPG

Contract Details

Nurkic is on the third year of a four-year, $70 million contract. He is set to make $18.1 million this season, which puts him in an interesting trade market. How many teams truly want or need a Jusuf Nurkic on their team?

When you look at price for value paid, however, Nurkic played to the financial expectations of his contract last season. Who surrounds him in the realm of NBA centers and what they are compensated?

Looks about right for the production received from Jusuf this past season. In terms of skill and salaries, he is a center that is in the middle of the pack.

Regular Season Recap

Nurkic arrived and instantly made a positive impact. With 14 points and 14 rebounds in his debut against the Golden State Warriors on opening night, Jusuf reminded us of what a physical center looked like. His five fouls were a precursor to an issue we knew existed: Nurkic is a foul-happy center. That is the downside of physicality without athleticism. He had 5+ fouls in 16 of his 76 games (21%), fouling out of 6.

Durability, a concern entering the season, was not an issue for the Bosnian Beast. He didn’t miss his first game until December 22 and was the most consistent starter on the team, doing so 76 times. The Suns were 1-5 in games in which Nurkic didn’t play.

Nurk was a connector as well, being the first center to average 4+ assists for the Suns since 1985-86.

He certainly had his challenges and drama along the way. As predicted, he wasn’t hard to play off of the court if the matchup was right. His finishing around the rim left plenty to be desired. His foul shooting got worse and worse as the season progressed.

He was an enforcer, however, giving the Suns some much-needed edge when appropriate. And sometimes when it wasn’t appropriate. Who can forget Nurkic being clubbed by Draymond Green?

In their next matchup, after Green served a 12-game suspension for the incident, Nurkic attempted to play mind games with Draymond. He lost them, posting 6 points and 6 rebounds in a game the Suns lost 113-112.

That is what you get with Nurkic. He cares. He tries. He can’t always execute, but he tries. Isn’t that adorable?

Who can forget his 31 rebound performance, setting a franchise record for board in a game?

We may have had the best season Nurkic had in him. And it wasn’t enough. He fit what the Suns were trying to do, but other factors severely hampered their overall outcome. His performance in the playoffs didn’t help...

Postseason Recap

The postseason was rough for the Suns, and especially Jusuf Nurkic. 7.8 rebounds and 8.3 assists, all while being cooked by Rudy Gobert. It wasn’t a good look.

A guy who had played 27.3 minutes a night during the regular season was relegated to 25.9 in the four-game sweep at the hands of the Minnesota Timberwolves. Some would say that was 10 minutes too long.

This was a team he should play well against. They are big and slow, like Nurkic. Yet, like the rest of his team, the rhythm was lacking and they appeared to be disengaged to the point of rolling over and playing dead.

Biggest Strength

Nurkic is a damn good rebounder. He was 9th in the NBA with 11.1 this season. You add in his playmaking ability as a big, and Nurkic is a quality center. Again, for the price you pay, he is a plus player.

Yep. That’s Jusuf Nurkic in the upper right-hand corner when you take into account his defensive rebounding and passing creation quality as compared to other centers in the NBA.

As an “anchor big”, a center who generally plays drop coverage, B-Ball Index rates Nurkic’s abilities as third best in the league at the archetype position.

Rim protection, screener rim defense, and defensive rebounding talent all factor into the production as an anchor big. Nurk Daddy graded out well. Did this translate to the naked eye? Yeah, it did. In drop coverage, Nurkic played well. He was a solid defender round the rim and a beast on the boards. It’s the quicker, shifter players who knew how to generate screens and pull Nurkic away from the rim — an island in which he does not operate well — that had success against him.

Biggest Weakness

His finishing was frustrating. Painfully frustrating. Statistically frustrating.

After five years of having Deandre Ayton, we grew accustomed to athleticism around the rim. He may not have dunked, but his little floaters were still effective. I’ve posted these stats before, but in the context of his player review for the season, they bear repeating:

That finishing talent is a killer. I don’t care how your price for value paid is. As a center, you need to finish around the rim.

With the new San Quentin Rules in the NBA, having the ability to finish through contact becomes a talent, and it is a talent Jusuf Nurkic does not possess.

Likelihood of Return: 7.5

The Suns could trade Nurkic if the package is right. There isn’t much of a market for him, however, so don’t be surprised to see him in the purple and orange again next season.

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Overall Grade: B-

The Great Ayton Debate. It still goes on in the community comments below. It will never stop. My two cents? The Suns made the right move. Why? Ayton was done here. He appeared to feel scorned by the franchise that drafted him. He needed a new start.

He got it, and in return, the Suns received a package for Nurkic, Grayson Allen, and Nassir Little. Nurkic put together a solid year. He was available, he cared, and he produced. Is he the athlete DA was? No. And I don’t know one person who believed he was. But he was a connector, and if you look at his offensive and defensive rating — keeping that salary in mind — he exceeded expectations. At least my expectations. Knowing that my expectations were he was a downgrade from DA.

I believe the Suns won the trade, at least at this point in time. It’s funny how we measure things and the time scale on which we do it. Was it the right move right now? I believe so. And I believe in the long run it was the wrong move...because the right move was drafting Luka Doncic, in which case this article doesn’t exist.

• Overall grade as an NBA player: C
• Relative grade to preseason expectations: A