Jusuf Nurkic Re-Signs With the Utah Jazz to Retain Backup Big Position

In the early hours of free agency, the Utah Jazz have quickly negotiated and signed center Jusuf Nurkic to retain his position as backup center. On a 2 year, $22 million deal, the Jazz comfortably cut the price of his previous contract by nearly one-third its previous value. At 32 years old, Nurkic and Klutch Sports clearly had little argument about Utah's figure.

He became a sudden fan favorite as a key piece in a trade that baffled Jazz fans at the time, but has only made more and more sense on Utah's side as the season advanced.

It's wild to look back on the Collin Sexton trade and realize that the Utah Jazz probably got the best player in the trade in Jusuf Nurkic. The Bosnian Beast was thrown into the forefront with the Jazz in the aftermath of Walker Kessler's early labrum tear.

After just five games of burn, Kessler was down and out for the season. In his place came Nurkic, a player whose career had been on severe decline since his prime in Portland, and the final seasons of his surprisingly hefty contract still had to be payed out to the tune of just beneath $30 million per year.

$11 million per year sounds like pocket change after hearing his previous paystub.

Nurkic absolutely thrived within head coach Will Hardy's ball movement-forward offensive system. As something of an abridged Jokic, Nurkic facilitated offense from the high post and around the arc with expert precision and a veteran's steady hand. 

There's no way to better illustrate this point, I believe, than to point to his streak of three consecutive triple-doubles with the team last season. He's one of just three centers to accomplish that feat in the last 50 years.

A strong compliment to Walker Kessler off the bench, Nurkic is a much more offensively-inclined player than his depth chart superior, while remaining much less impactful on the defensive end.

Whether as a future trade chip for Utah (that is a very manageable and tradable sum for a veteran big man) or as the offensive surge off the bench to keep the ball moving and hit the occasional three-pointer, Jusuf Nurkic is exactly the type of veteran presence that the Utah Jazz will need as they attempt to reach the playoffs with this young core for the first time.

Walker Kessler will explore free agency, and it's unlikely that Utah decides against matching any offer sheet that comes his way. In the meantime, however, it's a breath of fresh air to see Utah get an early free agency win.