Phoenix Suns center Jusuf Nurkić went viral after showing off his 3-point shot on social media this week.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Nurkić, who turned 30 today, only shot 24.4% from deep in his first season with Phoenix. However, new Suns coach Mike Budenholzer is known to like stretch bigs, as exemplified by Brook Lopez in his time as the head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks and Al Horford when he was the coach of the Atlanta Hawks.
Jusuf Nurkić is coming different next season ????????
(h/t @Iceman_34 )
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) August 22, 2024
This is not the first time Nurkić, who also looks slimmed down, has been seen working on his 3-point shot this offseason.
Jusuf Nurkić has undergone an offseason transformation slimming down in weight and working on his three-point shooting.
In Suns head coach Mike Budenholzer’s system, a stretch-5 is critical to its success.
Nurkic averaged 10.9 points, 11.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists last season. pic.twitter.com/2NUnQtFxTJ
— Evan Sidery (@esidery) July 31, 2024
Even with his struggles from 3 last season, Nurkić did shoot 36.1% from 3 with the Portland Trail Blazers in the 2022-23 season on 2.3 attempts per game.
Fans were overall not impressed with the latest shooting video given that these are only offseason workouts in empty gyms:
“Jusuf Nurkić is coming different next season” pic.twitter.com/rarFrVT6WN
— Justice (@HoodiJustice) August 22, 2024
Yeah we’ve definitely seen this before pic.twitter.com/phfjXoD95J
— ???????????????????????????????? ???? (@cryptopayton_) August 23, 2024
Will he have that green light in a real game? That's the main difference. Ask anyone who plays ball. When your team wants you to shoot more, you make more. It's a psychological thing.
— 1001 Quotes (@X1001Quotes) August 22, 2024
The Suns acquired Nurkić from the Blazers on Sept. 27 last year, in a deal where they sent out Deandre Ayton and Toumani Camara and also received Nassir Little and Grayson Allen. Nurkić had the best plus/minus on the Suns in his first season at +5.3 and had multiple games of 20-plus rebounds, but fans grew frustrated with his inconsistent finishing around the rim (ranked in the 54th percentile in field goal percentage at the rim). Across 76 games played (all starts), the 7-footer averaged 10.9 points, 11.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.1 blocks in 27.3 minutes per game.
The Suns open the 2024-25 season on the road against the Los Angeles Clippers on Oct. 23.
*Get the BEST Phoenix sports insider information, exclusive content, and access to our seasonal magazines! SIGN UP HERE to unlock our premium content!*
Brendan Mau is a senior writer covering the Phoenix Suns and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @Brendan_Mau
