For the good of our young guards and the good of Lauri Markkanen, Jusuf Nurkic cannot continue to be a starter for the Jazz this season.

This isn't about winning or losing. This is about putting this team in the most optimal spots for growth and competitiveness. It's not about making a run at the play-in. It's about the fact Nurkic is now a clear handicap to this Jazz team. On both ends of the floor.

Nurk is just far too slow to be an NBA starter. He clogs up the paint as teams don't respect him outside the paint. Because he lacks athleticism and is a poor decision maker, teams will pressure him with the ball and he will turn it over. He doesn't have the mobility or touch to be a great PnR option and doesn't offer much as a dunker spot finisher either.

He is a good rebounder who can serve as an offensive hub. That's not the skill set of a starter in this league, and it is killing his teammates. Our guards don't have the interior threat Walker Kessler provided. Nurkic can set screens, but his screens don't consistently generate openings for guards because he isn't a threat as a roller.

We saw the offense look better with Collier in the lineup and though he still showed his dumb decision making at times, he injected some pop and was able to create some offense. But the combination of Nurk and Collier is untenable since neither are respected shooters.

Nurkic offers basically nothing to serve our established talent. It is obvious something will need to be done. Will it be Danny Ainge did mention looking outside the organization if need be: https://kslsports.com/nba/utah-jazz/danny-ainge-kessler/563122

He said "we have to look outside" in the wake of Walker's injury. Every game that has passed has validated that. We'll see what the Jazz look like tonight at home in a rematch game against the Wolves. They're a terrible match-up for us because of their size and athleticism, and Walker's absence has magnified that weakness of this roster. The first way to address it will need to be finding a C who can replace Nurkic in the lineup. Even someone like Charles Bassey should he be cut loose from Memphis would be a clear upgrade fit.

9 comments

  1. I disagree with a lot of this. You said the offense looked better with Collier at PG than George? We were like -40 with Collier, worst +/- on the team, and George has been great at PG. I’m down to give Collier more time but George has earned the role IMO so I don’t like how he’s being demoted now.

    Nurkic is a solid tank commander C. He works for this period of time where we can’t really be that good, otherwise we win more games than we want.

  2. He hasn’t been good so far but let’s see what Flip can do with consistent minutes at the 5

  4. While I’d like a center to help improve us this season, I don’t think it’s a must-have to address externally. Use Nurk, Love, Oscar, and Kyle.

    Centers are relatively costly on the trade market right now and I’m not ready to use assets to replace Walker (for a single season or long term).

    Who is available and what is the trade cost?

  5. an injury replacement who hinders us at both ends of the court and is on an expiring contract? That sounds perfect for this jazz team.

    We are tanking. We want to lose as much as we can.

  7. Nurkic is one of the better passing and screen setting bigs in the league. He’s fine. If they want to address anything it’s the backup C.

  9. I think the flip side is that, without Kessler in the middle serving as a defensive crutch, everyone will have to pull their weight defensively.

Leave a Reply