There may not be a player in the NBA that you’re less sure of what he’ll do next than Jusuf Nurkic. His next move could really be anything. The Jazz’s free-flowing style of play further amplifies Nurkic’s propensity for the bizarre, and with Walker Kessler’s season-ending injury, Nurkic has inadvertently become a huge part of the team’s plans… whether that’s a good thing or not.
In 2025, Jusuf Nurkic is not a starting level center in the NBA. Suns fans learned that during his two-year stint with the team, which wasn’t particularly fruitful, and now Jazz fans are learning that firsthand, as Nurkic is shooting under 40 percent from the field, turning the ball over at a career-high and not protecting the rim much at all.
However, this comes with a big asterisk: the Jazz know Nurkic isn’t a starting center at this point in his career and wasn’t supposed to fill that role.
Kessler’s injury has put Nurkic, who has an expiring $19 million contract, in a position he isn’t suited for but also shouldn’t be expected to play every night. The Jazz are somewhere between wanting to win and wanting to tank. To be honest, Nurkic might be the perfect guy for that particular scenario, because you never know if he’s going to help a team win or sabotage its efforts on any given night.
Jusuf Nurkic has been forced into a role he was not built for
Years ago, Nurkic was a solid (and sometimes very good) starting NBA center. He was a near-lock who recorded a double-double every night and was a well-above-average passer from the center position.
He’s useful as a backup these days, and I was actually on board when he played that position in Utah, where he would provide a different look than the rim-protecting Walker Kessler. But with Kessler out for the year and Kyle Filipowski and Taylor Hendricks both dealing with injuries and a lack of experience, it could be the Nurk show in SLC for a while.
The Suns, meanwhile, have been rolling with Mark Williams and Nick Richards in the center rotation, and it’s sort of working! Nick Richards broke up a Kareem skyhook last night for some reason, and Mark Williams looked more like a solid rotation piece than the injury-prone, low-energy player Suns fans were told he was.
The past few years have been weird in Phoenix. Even with some rough patches, I don’t think Suns fans are cheering for Jusuf Nurkic. But they will empathize with the Jazz fans who are now experiencing Jusuf Nurkic’s beltless rollercoaster.
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