NBA rumors: Insider suggests Suns-Hornets Jusuf Nurkic trade
Yesterday at 03:29 PM
The Phoenix Suns are spiraling in a way that nobody expected this season. Injuries to both Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal have cost the Suns, and the team has struggled mightily when either one of them has been on the sideline. As a result, the Suns currently sit at just 18-19 and are in 11th place in the Western Conference.
That poor record has put the Suns in an interesting spot. They can either try to make a move to win now, going all-in on this roster even more than they already have, or they can start to look towards the future with an aging, expensive roster by getting rid of some of their more expensive veterans. One of those players is starting center Jusuf Nurkic, who could be on the move soon according to NBA insider Marc Stein.
“The Suns face similar challenges with the suddenly out-of-favor Jusuf Nurkić, who hasn’t merely been moved to the bench like Beal — Nurkić has been outright DNP-CD’d for Phoenix’s past two games,” Stein wrote. “With Nurkić owed $19.4 million in 2025-26, generating a trade market for him has to this point proven scarcely easier than establishing one for Beal. The Suns have three tradeable second-round picks (in addition to a 2031 first-rounder) to try to convince a team like Charlotte to take on Nurkić’s contract for a package headlined by in-demand Hornets big man Nick Richards … but how many of those three picks would it cost them?”
Richards would objectively be a better fit in Phoenix as a younger, more athletic big man who would give the offense a sense of explosiveness that it doesn’t have with a below the rim finisher like Nurkic. As a result, the Suns have outright benched him in the last few games while also sending Beal to the bench.
A move to get off of Nurkic would likely help the team defensively in addition to adding some athleticism to the roster. If the Suns are going to turn things around and climb back up in the standings in the Western Conference, they need to make a big move one way or another.
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