How Jusuf Nurkic's injury limits Suns continuity
10/05/2024 07:48 PM
On Saturday, Phoenix Suns center Jusuf Nurkic sustained a left middle finger injury that will keep him sidelined against the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday and will be re-evaluated in one week. Suns head coach Mike Budenholzer kept his message short to the media following practice.
“We’ll just evaluate, see how he does the next few days, and hope for the best,” Budenholzer said.
The news comes as a blow for the Suns, as they survived the entire training camp without an injury. Now, they’ll have to enter three preseason games without their starting center. While many people look at the value of the Big 3 of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and Bradley Beal, Nurkic is just as important.
His rebounding, physicality, and grit are elements this loaded Suns team needs. Although Nurkic will be out, it’s the next man-up mentality. For Budenholzer, he mentioned how Mason Plumlee and Oso Ighadoro have taken advantage of the extra playing time.
“In training camp, everybody gets to play and you mix up the groups and everything, but (there are) probably more opportunities for OSO, which I think he’s taking advantage of,” Budenholzer said. “He’s getting comfortable understanding what we want to do. It’s good for them (Plumlee and Ighadoro) to get the reps, especially with all the guys that are returning that they haven’t played with.”
Can the Suns produce with Jusuf Nurkic’s injury?
Certainly, Phoenix will still be able to produce. They upgraded the center position by drafting Ighadoro and signing Plumlee. The rotation of Plumlee, Ighodaro, and Bol Bol could provide size and versatility.
While the Big 3 is a continuation of last year, Nurkic, Bol, Grayson Allen, and Josh Okogie are all returners. Both Plumlee and Ighadoro had to adjust to their teammates and the system. Durant mentioned addressing turnovers as a focal point throughout training camp. Luckily for Phoenix, Nurkic is a great passer at the center position. He averaged a career-high four assists per game last year with the Suns.
For Ighadoro, he elaborated on how Nurkic had taken him under his wing as a rookie.
“Yeah, Nurk’s been great,” Ighadoro said. “He’s always telling me to hop in with him after practicing drills and he and thus were going through some ball screen angles and stuff. Little stuff like that means a lot to me just making me feel included and as a young guy, coming back, and going out the way to do that means a lot. I’ve been trying to learn as much as I can.”
Nurkic’s old teammate, Plumlee is sharing the same team with him once again. Even though Plumlee signed to come off the bench, his mentality remains the same. Focusing on what works within the offensive and defensive systems.
“Yeah, just focusing on playing how we want to play,” Plumlee said. “I’m sure there will be different lineups throughout the season. My chance to get to play with Kevin, Devin, and Brad is nothing major. We’ll just make sure we keep playing how we want to play.”
The first game and week of preseason basketball will be a Nurkic-less Suns team. In the meantime, they’ll need to lean on their backup bigs to maintain that physicality, playmaking, and versatility.
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