{"id":120123,"date":"2025-01-26T12:25:38","date_gmt":"2025-01-26T17:25:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=120123"},"modified":"2025-01-26T12:25:38","modified_gmt":"2025-01-26T17:25:38","slug":"nurkic-time-with-suns-ugly-end","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/01\/26\/nurkic-time-with-suns-ugly-end\/","title":{"rendered":"Center\u2019s Time on the Suns Could Be Coming to an Ugly End"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last appearing on January 7th, it appears that may have been the final time Phoenix Suns<\/a> fans will see Jusuf Nurkic<\/a> in purple and orange. Rumors suggest the team is desperate to trade Nurkic<\/a>, and their desire was signaled by his complete removal from the rotation. They also acquired Nick Richards<\/a> from the Charlotte Hornets<\/a>, which has demoted him to fourth string.<\/p>\n

Nurkic\u2019s rocky relationship with the franchise took a dramatic turn when the player revealed he has not spoken to head coach Mike Budenholzer in \u2018two months\u2019<\/a>. Arizona Republic\u2019s Duane Rankin quoted the 30-year-old saying that the pair do not have a relationship.<\/p>\n

Center\u2019s Time on the Suns Could Be Coming to an Ugly End<\/strong><\/h2>\n

It Will Not be Easy to Find a Home for Nurkic<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The Suns felt they had no choice but to move on from the previous center Deandre Ayton<\/a> as their relationship had become untenable. A former first-overall pick who helped them to the NBA Finals in 2021, he was unable to become the player expected of him. So when the opportunity arose to get involved in the trade that sent Damian Lillard<\/a> to the Milwaukee Bucks<\/a>, they were more than satisfied with their main return of Nurkic and Grayson Allen<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Allen enjoyed an excellent first season in the Valley, leading the league in three-point percentage. Nurkic, on the other hand, was not as popular, and his performances this season only worsened feelings towards him. This has seemed to filter into the locker room, with an apparent zero communication between head coach and player.<\/p>\n

\u2018\u2019We don\u2019t have a relationship. So, it\u2019s fine. For me, just be a pro and do the best I can. Work and stay ready for whatever might be, but there is no chaos or bringing that to this team. They already have plenty of it. Trying to be as professional as I can and work my ass off for something else.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

However, finding that \u2018something else\u2019 may not be as easy as it sounds. There is a real possibility that Nurkic could remain on the Suns beyond the February 6th trade deadline, which he acknowledges due to the franchise being a second-apron team. His $18m contract cannot be aggregated with other players, and due to his poor displays, it would likely command considerable assets alongside it. To find a buyer for Nurkic, the Suns may have to part with one of their recently acquired first-round picks<\/a>. Next season may offer a simpler path when he will be on an expiring deal.<\/p>\n

Suns Have Improved in Nurkic\u2019s Absence<\/strong><\/h3>\n

After missing four games with the flu, Nurkic was available to play in the Suns game against the Washington Wizards<\/a> on Saturday night. To no one\u2019s surprise, he was a coach\u2019s decision \u2013 DNP once more. Barring any injuries to the three centers ahead of him \u2013 Richards, Mason Plumlee,<\/a> and Oso Ighodaro<\/a> \u2013 this will continue until the end of the season unless the Suns find a trade partner.<\/p>\n

Budenholzer pushed back on Nurkic\u2019s claims of no contact between the two, assuring there had, in fact, been \u2018communication\u2019<\/a>. Reconciliation does not seem to be on the cards, with coach Bud emphasizing, \u2018You gotta earn your minutes, and that\u2019s been communicated,\u2019 a message that doesn\u2019t seem to have been received.<\/p>\n

Whichever route this goes, there is no doubt this union is coming to a very ugly end. But Nurkic’s lackadaisical effort and demeanor left the coaching staff with no choice. However, Richards’ displays so far have vindicated their decisions. In four games, Richards has averaged<\/a> 12.3 rebounds per game, an area the Suns had really struggled with all season. His latest game saw him record a career-high 19 rebounds, Nurkic has averaged 9.2<\/a>\u00a0rebounds this campaign.<\/p>\n

The Suns are also 3-1 in the last four games, and while these victories have come against lesser opponents, they now have a greater presence in the paint. Richards has also produced 20+ points in two of his four games, giving the team another dimension which Nurkic did not. Before his demotion, the Suns had the lowest point production from starting centers in the NBA. His 8.2 points per game did not help. Playoff hopes are on the line, and the team has to do what it takes to win. As of right now, that does not involve Nurkic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last appearing on January 7th, it appears that may have been the final time Phoenix Suns fans will see Jusuf Nurkic in purple and orange. Rumors suggest the team is desperate to trade Nurkic, and their desire was signaled by his complete removal from the rotation. They also acquired Nick Richards from the Charlotte Hornets, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5293,"featured_media":120135,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,62,28],"tags":[135,550,2978],"class_list":["post-120123","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-nba","category-suns","tag-jusuf-nurkic","tag-mike-budenholzer","tag-nick-richards"],"modified_by":"Eamon Cassels, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120123","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5293"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=120123"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120123\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":120136,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120123\/revisions\/120136"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/120135"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=120123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=120123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=120123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}