Getty Jusuf Nurkic is a great player... when he can stay on the floor.
Jusuf Nurkic is a highly talented basketball player, and he’s showcasing that in his first season with Phoenix – he just needs to get better at staying on the court, and he knows it.
While talking to the media on Thursday, December 7, the Suns center said “I know, like I said, a lot of times, I put myself in position, whatever the reason is, to have fouls and hurt my team. I have to find a way to get up and down, stay on the court, and I will.”
Nurkic has fouled out in two of Phoenix’s past three games. And, according to Cleaning The Glass, he owns a foul rate of 4.8%, which is eighth-most among big men who have logged at least 250 minutes this season.
That stat alone surely doesn’t disqualify Nurkic as a quality center – Onyeka Okongwu, Dereck Lively II, Kevon Looney, and Myles Turner all have foul rates above 4.0% too – but when fouls can remove a player from a game like we’ve seen happen to Nurkic recently, an adjustment in play style might be necessary.
“A lot of times, I put myself in position, whatever the reason is, to have fouls and hurt my team. I have to find a way to get up and down, stay on the court and I will.”
Jusuf Nurkic as he’s the only Phoenix Suns player to start all 21 of their games so far this season. #Suns
Combining Talent & Production
During Tuesday’s In-Season Tournament quarterfinal against the Lakers, analyst Reggie Miller even went as far as to call Nurkic “a poor man’s Jokic,” during the game broadcast, which might be a bit of a stretch considering Nikola Jokic is one of the best centers to ever play basketball, but Miller’s statement does show how respected Nurkic is around the league.
That respect doesn’t stem from nothing, of course. Nurkic is extremely skilled – he possesses good post skills, physicality, rebounding instincts, and above-average vision for a player at his position. And even in games he struggled with foul trouble – like when he fouled out on December 1st against Denver – Nurkic can have an impact.
In that game, he scored 31 points to accompany his 6 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks. And that leads to a bigger point, which is…Nurkic has been mostly good this season.
So far, Nurkic is averaging 11.7 points, 9.1 rebounds, and 3.9 assists, which would be a career-high for a full season if he can keep it up. He’s providing Phoenix with good distribution from the center position, something the team hasn’t benefitted from in years past.
And when the players surrounding that center are some of the best shot-makers the league has ever seen like Kevin Durant and Devin Booker, good things are bound to happen.
Not a New Problem
Nurkic’s foul troubles began long before this season started.
He has posted a foul rate over 4% each season since 2017, and fouling out 21 times in that time frame. In Portland, Nurkic was an important cog in an offense that revolved around Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum, who are also two high-level scorers.
Now in Phoenix, Nurkic is slowly but surely finding his footing with a new team, but needs to limit the fouls if he wants to be a contributor when the NBA playoffs roll around in April and May- and according to his own admission, he knows that, too.