Last Updated on August 7, 2026 by Mat Diekhake

Jusuf Nurkić has long been a productive presence in the paint, using his size, strength, and passing ability to influence games on both ends of the floor. When healthy, he provides a combination of rebounding, interior scoring, and playmaking that makes him a valuable anchor in the frontcourt.

Here’s detailed information about Jusuf Nurkić:

Player Profile

  • Full Name: Jusuf Nurkić
  • Nationality: Bosnian
  • Date of Birth: Born August 23, 1994
  • Hometown: Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina
  • Height: 7 ft 0 in (213 cm)
  • Weight: 290 lb (132 kg)
  • Wingspan: 7 ft 2 in (218 cm)
  • Shoe Size: 17 (US)
  • Shoe Brand: Nike KD 15, Nike LeBron 20, Nike LeBron 18, Nike Hyperdunk X, Nike KD 10, Nike Hypershift
  • Number:
    • #27 (most commonly worn in the NBA)
  • Position: Center
  • High School: Did not attend high school in the United States; trained in Europe.
  • College: Did not play college basketball; developed his skills in European leagues.
  • NBA Draft:
    • Selected 16th overall in the 2014 NBA Draft by the Chicago Bulls (rights traded to the Denver Nuggets)
  • Teams Played For:
    • Denver Nuggets (2014–2017)
    • Portland Trail Blazers (2017–2023)
    • Phoenix Suns (2023–present)
  • Championship Rings: None (as of 2024)
  • Kids: None (as of public information in 2024)
  • Siblings: Public information does not mention siblings.

Player Archetype / Play Style

Jusuf Nurkić’s player archetype is that of a traditional playmaking big: a bruising interior center who anchors the glass, sets punishing screens, and helps connect an offense with passing from the elbows and short roll. At 6-foot-11 and 290 pounds, he has the sheer size and strength to hold position in the paint, absorb contact, and play a physical brand of basketball on both ends. Offensively, his role is less about explosive scoring than it is about screening, rebounding, facilitating, and finishing around the rim, while defensively he operates as a drop-coverage interior presence who uses bulk, positioning, and defensive rebounding to protect the lane rather than switching all over the floor. In full, Nurkić plays like a heavy-duty veteran center whose value comes from toughness, passing feel, interior presence, and the ability to stabilize possessions with screens and boards.

Scouting Report

Jusuf Nurkić has never been a centre who relies on vertical explosion to control a game. Everything comes from angles, timing and understanding where the next advantage is likely to appear. To me, his passing is the feature that ties his offensive game together. He’ll catch at the elbow or the top of the key, wait that extra beat for a cutter to clear the defence, then fire bounce passes or touch feeds into windows that many bigs don’t even recognise. As a screener, he creates real separation because he welcomes contact instead of slipping away from it, giving ball-handlers enough room to turn the corner before rolling into the paint or short-rolling to become a secondary playmaker. He can score with jump hooks and power finishes when he establishes deep position, but the trade-off is that he doesn’t consistently play above the rim, so length around the basket can bother him if he catches the ball too far from the restricted area. Defensively, he prefers to keep the game in front of him. Drop coverage suits him because he uses his size to absorb drives, cuts off passing lanes to rolling bigs and forces guards into floaters rather than chasing blocks outside his area. The interesting thing is that problems arise once offences stretch him laterally. Quick guards can pull him into repeated switches or force him to defend multiple changes of direction, and recovering after showing high on screens isn’t where he’s most comfortable. That’s why the right environment matters. Put him behind disciplined perimeter defenders who funnel drives into his body instead of exposing him in space, and his strengths become much more pronounced. His ideal role is as a physical starting centre who connects an offence through screening and passing while anchoring a structured half-court defence. There are similarities to Marc Gasol in the way he uses intelligence and distribution to influence possessions, while parts of his interior scoring and bruising screen-setting resemble Nikola Vučević, albeit with a more physical edge and less reliance on perimeter shot creation.

Fun Facts

  • Jusuf Nurkić’s height without shoes is officially listed as 6 feet 10 inches (208 cm). With shoes, he is measured at 7 feet (213 cm).
  • Jusuf Nurkić’s listed playing weight is 290 pounds (132 kilograms).
  • Nurkić began his basketball career in Bosnia and developed further in the Croatian league before entering the NBA

Player Insights

Jusuf Nurkic had a lot of potential on the Portland Trail Blazers but struggled to stay healthy. Were his health issues bad luck or a sign of a body that wouldn’t last in the NBA? He looks to be demoted to third on the depth chart of the Phoenix Suns, playing behind Mason Plumlee and Oso Ighodaro. Granted, Plumlee and Ighodaro are both good players, so Nurkic may still find a role on another team. The Suns seem to have issues at center and are likely to struggle heading into the playoffs unless they make a trade. 1/13/2025

Sources:

NBA.com — Jusuf Nurkić | Center | Utah Jazz | NBA.com
Utah Jazz — Jusuf Nurkić Continues to Step up for the Utah Jazz
Utah Jazz — Utah Jazz Film Study: Jusuf Nurkić’s Playmaking, Brice Sensabaugh’s Scoring Versatility, and More
NBA.com — Jusuf Nurkić out for remainder of 2025-26 season after undergoing nose surgery