Jusuf Nurkić

Jusuf Nurkić (born 23 August 1994) is a Bosnian professional basketball player for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association (NBA).

In February 2012, he was briefly loaned to Union Olimpija in order to play the Nike International Junior Tournament which was held in Belgrade.

Nurkić attracted attention internationally by averaging 18.8 points and 11 rebounds over 5 games.

Shortly after the tournament, he parted ways with Zlatorog Laško.

Just days after, it was revealed that Nurkić was training with Croatian team Cedevita.

In October 2012, after a few months of training with Croatian team Cedevita, Nurkić signed a contract with Cedevita Zagreb.

In his first season with Cedevita, he had a small role in the team under head coach Aleksandar Petrović, mostly playing in garbage time.

In the Euroleague, he played only 6 games, averaging 1.8 points per game.

In January 2013, Nurkić was loaned to Zadar until the end of the season on his initiative, hoping to play more minutes.

In his second season, under new head coach Jasmin Repeša, he had breakthroughs in the regional Adriatic League, averaging 11.6 points and 5.6 rebounds per game, for only 16.3 minutes spent on the court.

This was attributed mainly to foul troubles and conditioning issues.

The 7 ft center was selected by the Chicago Bulls with the 16th overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft.

He also internationally represents the Bosnia and Herzegovina men's national basketball team.

He has also played for the Denver Nuggets and the Portland Trail Blazers.

Born in Živinice, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Nurkić began playing basketball at 14 years of age, after Bosnian sports agent Enes Trnovčević took him to Slovenia and gave him an opportunity to play.

He played in the youth categories for Slovenian team Zlatorog Laško.

In 2014, Nurkić was nominated for the FIBA Europe Young Player of the Year Award.

On 26 June 2014, Nurkić was selected by the Chicago Bulls with the 16th overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft.

He was later traded to the Denver Nuggets on draft night.

On 31 July 2014, he signed his rookie scale contract with the Nuggets.

On 29 October 2014, he made his NBA debut, recording 5 points and 7 rebounds in an 89–79 win over the Detroit Pistons.

On 1 January 2015, he recorded his first career double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds in a loss to the Chicago Bulls.

Two days later, he recorded his second career double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds to go with 5 blocks in a 114–85 win over the Memphis Grizzlies.

He went on to record two more double-doubles in February.

Nurkić was named a participant in the 2015 Rising Stars Challenge as a replacement for Steven Adams of the Oklahoma City Thunder, but declined to play in the event for personal reasons.

In the Nuggets' final game of the season on 15 April, he scored a season-high 17 points in a loss to the Golden State Warriors.

On 20 May, he underwent successful surgery to repair a partially torn left patellar tendon.

On 11 October 2015, the Nuggets exercised their third-year team option on Nurkić's rookie scale contract, extending the contract through the 2016–17 season.

He made his 2015–16 season debut on 2 January against the Golden State Warriors, having been inactive for the first two months of the season due to recovering from his torn left patellar tendon.

Four days later, he recorded 15 points, 10 rebounds and 5 blocks in a 78–74 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

On 12 March, he scored a season-high 17 points in a 116–100 win over the Washington Wizards.

He topped that mark twice in late March, scoring 18 points against the Los Angeles Lakers on 25 March, and 19 points against the Los Angeles Clippers on 27 March.

On 8 April, he scored a career-high 21 points in a 102–98 win over the San Antonio Spurs.

In the Nuggets' 2016–17 season opener on 26 October 2016, Nurkić set a new career high with 23 points in a 107–102 win over the New Orleans Pelicans.

Five days later, he grabbed a career-high 18 rebounds in a 105–102 loss to the Toronto Raptors.

After Nikola Jokić emerged as Denver's starting center, Nurkić was demoted to the bench.

The demotion to the bench didn't sit well with Nurkić, and he wasn't afraid to voice his displeasure with the situation, requesting to be traded twice, first in April 2016 and then again in December 2016.

The Nuggets eventually granted Nurkić his wish ten days before the 2017 trade deadline.

On 13 February 2017, Nurkić was traded, along with the rights to the Memphis Grizzlies' 2017 first round draft pick, to the Portland Trail Blazers in exchange for Mason Plumlee, a 2018 second round pick and cash considerations.

He made his debut for the Trail Blazers two days later, recording 13 points and seven rebounds in 21 minutes off the bench in a 111–88 loss to the Utah Jazz.