Is stretch 5 Jusuf Nurkic coming to the Phoenix Suns this season?

NBA offseasons are weird. A league unlike any other has a backbone supported by content that is constantly churned out, even when nothing is happening. Someone is probably saying something on a podcast that generates a bunch of headlines while you’re reading this.

One of the trends we’ve come to understand is muscle watch, when players will post workout pictures around August or September, showing a physical transformation of sorts. This is usually accompanied by a caption somewhere along the lines of “Career year inbound? 👀” and the career year is almost never, in fact, inbound.

The one involving a Suns player, however, has been alongside actual basketball footage. Dare we say, intentional basketball footage that is worth bringing up.

Phoenix Suns center Jusuf Nurkic is online. He does not shy away from a reply here or there, as well as blocking someone in a way that triggers a “what did I say badly about the big fella?” response. Nurkic is a bit of a poster! Do not take this negatively. He is a refreshing, thoughtful guy to talk to in a media environment. This is to preface the fact that he is very likely aware of the on-court narrative that started formulating for him once new head coach Mike Budenholzer arrived.

With Brook Lopez and Bobby Portis used as stretch 5s under Budenholzer in Milwaukee, it has been asked if Nurkic will take on that role for Phoenix as well. In Budenholzer’s last year with the Atlanta Hawks, Al Horford went from 65 total 3-point attempts in his first eight seasons to 256 that year. Horford has since gone on to shoot over 40% from 3 for the Boston Celtics each of the last two seasons on great volume for a big.

Nurkic has been posting a fair share of his workouts overseas on Instagram, and the overwhelming majority of them involving a basketball play are him taking/making a 3-pointer.

Jusuf Nurkić is coming different next season 👀🔥

(h/t @Iceman_34 )

pic.twitter.com/ifsb64ki8p

— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) August 22, 2024

Ah, I forgot the fire emoji earlier. That’s on me.

Wouldn’t you know it, even Budenholzer himself came to visit Nurkic too.

👋🏻 ☀️ pic.twitter.com/hMQCJrrC3E

— Jusuf Nurkić 🇧🇦 (@bosnianbeast27) August 4, 2024

Jusuf Nurkic doing more stretch 5 things can help the Suns

Going off some admittedly mislabeled positional designations on NBA Stats, the Suns ranked 22nd last year in 3s made by centers. Take out Bol Bol’s 22, a player that almost never was featured at the 5, and Phoenix drops to 23 total and 26th. The teams it shares the bottom-five with all ranked top-five in alley-oop dunks from centers, while the Suns themselves were 29th there with just 23 as well.

This was another topic of conversation inside the Suns’ offseason, how there was a need for them to add a center with a more pronounced skill set in that singular dimension. The new additions don’t exactly solve this. Mason Plumlee is not the lob threat anymore that he was in the prime of his career. Rookie Oso Ighodaro will snag a few but it’s not the focal point of his offensive role. Both do not shoot.

Nurkic used to!

Two seasons ago, his last with the Portland Trail Blazers before arriving in Phoenix, Nurkic shot 36.1% across 119 attempts. That’s a solid 2.3 per game and a solid knockdown rate for a big.

Nurkic would relocate to the corner when a possession saw its sunset. The mechanics of his jumper are fine and dandy.

There’s also the obvious pick-and-pop situations, which can be used on or off the ball with how Nurkic will be utilized.

To put it bluntly, this was expected to be a thing in Phoenix, one of Nurkic’s talents that would help offset all his limitations in areas Deandre Ayton thrived in, such as finishing around the rim.

And it was. Until it wasn’t.

Nurkic attempted a 3-pointer in 33 of his first 35 games with the Suns, a total of 77 and an average of 2.2 a night that was right along with that frequency in Portland. The problem is he only made 27.3% of ’em and that was the point Phoenix cut off his water.

In Nurkic’s 46 remaining appearances, he took just 13, eight of which were in late-clock scenarios.

The question is, should he next season? Yeah! Probably!

The value trade-off of swapping out Nurkic’s susceptible efficiency around the basket in exchange for getting more 3s up as a team is there, especially if Nurkic can get back around the mid-30s on his percentage. Budenholzer can figure that out in real time much better, assessing the pros and cons as the season progresses. And if Nurkic isn’t making them again, the Suns can adjust again.

This all goes back to the core point when Nurkic was acquired. He provides value in other areas since he is not a traditional rim-rolling big or rim protector. The playmaking was there last year, as was the top-tier rebounding. A sprinkle of triples would be a welcome added bonus to push that value over the top for the Suns.

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