Jusuf Nurkic Gets Healthy DNP In Hawks Win As Trade Rumors Swirl

The Phoenix Suns are making aggressive changes to their team's style of play in a bid to maximize wins. They were 16-19 heading into tonight's game against the Atlanta Hawks, winning it 123-115 to climb closer to .500. 

They won a competitive clash while removing starting center Jusuf Nurkic from the lineup, as the Bosnian center played 0 minutes while fully healthy on the bench,

"Jusuf Nurkic is not injured - him not playing tonight against Atlanta is a coaching decision based on matchups."

While the claim is that this was a decision based on matchups, coach Mike Budenholzer confirmed that wasn't the case and that he simply chose to play Mason Plumlee and Oso Ighadaro over Nurkic tonight.

"Yeah, just went with Mason and Oso tonight. Again, just always trying to figure out what's best for the team and find the right combinations, the right group... We just went with Mason and Oso."

Nurkic is clearly upset over his recent benching, giving a cold answer about the same after the game.

“No comment, man. Just being a pro and get ready. That’s all.”

The Hawks' center rotation of Clint Capela and Onyeka Okongwu isn't really a stylistically challenging matchup for Nurkic. He's supposed to be a bruising interior force who can rebound and create offense through above-average playmaking. A stylistic reason could be justified if it was a perimeter-centric big who'd force Nurkic to move a lot more, but both Hawks centers are primarily post players.

Nurkic was removed from the starting lineup alongside Bradley Beal a few games ago to accommodate Ryan Dunn and Mason Plumlee, who are better defenders in their respective positions. The team has gone 2-1 since those changes were made, with Bradley Beal shining off the bench despite the trade rumors around him.

Nurkic hasn't looked much better, putting up eight points (3-6 FG) as a -22 in his last game (loss to Charlotte Hornets) before Mike Budenholzer decided to remove him from the playing rotation entirely. It's a big red flag when a center making nearly $20 million can't even get a minute against a .500 team.

The theories on why Nurkic would be effective in this game are pointless anyway, with the Bosnian averaging 8.6 points and 9.2 rebounds this season. He's been an active detriment to the Suns, as indicated by a competent team performance leading the franchise to a much-needed win without him tonight.

It's hard to imagine what the Suns can trade Nurkic's contract for at this point. His $19.1 million salary isn't expiring, so the Suns would need to attach assets even to get rid of his contract, let alone upgrade the position. They have no assets to throw around either, so it doesn't look like they're gonna get much for Nurkic especially after his value has taken a hit with his recent benching and now DNP.