Jusuf Nurkić

Jusuf Nurkić
Player information
birthday	23rd August 1994
place of birth	Živinice , Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina
size	213 cm
Weight	127 kg
position	center
NBA draft	2014 , 16th pick, Chicago Bulls
Club information
society	Portland Trail Blazers
league	NBA
Jersey number	27
Clubs as active
2012–2014 KK Cedevita 2014 → KK Zadar 2014–2017 Denver Nuggets Since 2017 Portland Trail Blazers 00000 0
National team
Since 02013	Bosnia and Herzegovina

Jusuf Nurkić (born August 23, 1994 in Živinice ) is a Bosnian-Herzegovinian basketball player who is currently under contract with the Portland Trail Blazers in the NBA .

Club career

Nurkić grew up in Živinice as the son of a police officer. He was discovered by Bosnian sports agent Enes Trnovčević, who brought him to Slovenia , where he began his junior career at KK Zlatorog Laško . He was then awarded to KK Union Olimpija , where he was able to convince and switched to KK Cedevita in Croatia as a professional in 2012 . After seeing little playing time at first, he was awarded to KK Zadar in 2014 , where he made his breakthrough under coach Jasmin Repeša . In the Adria League , Nurkić achieved 11.6 points and 5.6 rebounds on average in just 16.3 minutes.

Nurkić decided to sign up for the 2014 NBA draft and was selected 16th by the Chicago Bulls . However, the Bulls made an agreement with the Denver Nuggets , in which Nurkić, along with the draft rights to Gary Harris , was exchanged for the draft rights to Doug McDermott . Nurkić made his NBA debut against the Detroit Pistons on October 29, 2014 . In the 89-79 win he scored 5 points and got 8 rebounds. After the transfer of the nominal Nuggets Center Timofey Mozgov, Nurkić moved up to the starting line-up for the Nuggets. On January 1, 2015, he managed his first double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds against the Chicago Bulls. Nurkić was appointed to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team at the end of the season . Due to injury, he completed only 32 games in the 2015-16 season and had 8.2 points and 5.5 rebounds.

In February 2017 Nurkić was transferred to the Portland Trail Blazers for Mason Plumlee and a draft pick. On March 25, 2019, he was seriously injured in the game against the Brooklyn Nets (148: 144 OT). On landing, he broke the tibia and fibula of his left leg after attempting to rebound. Jusuf Nurkić was driven off the field on a stretcher and then taken to hospital.

National team

Nurkić already played for the U-18s of the Bosnian selection and was MVP of the U-18 European basketball championship of Division B 2012, when he put on 19.4 points and 13.3 rebounds per game. He was also MVP of the U-20 European Championship Division B in 2014. He scored 21.0 points and 12.0 rebounds and won the title with Bosnia. He made his debut for the A-team for the first time in the qualification for the European Championship finals in 2013 in 2013. Bosnia and Herzegovina did not qualify for the finals.

Web links

• Jusuf Nurkic - player profile on NBA.com
• Jusuf Nurkic - player profile on basketball-reference.com (English)
• NUKIC, JUSUF - player profile on the website of the Adriatic Basketball Association (English)
• Jusuf NURKIC (BIH) - EUROBASKET Profile - (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ A Little-Known Story About Jusuf Nurkic ( Memento of the original from January 18, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
2. ^ Nuggets get Gary Harris, Jusuf Nurkic in first round of 2014 NBA Draft
3. ↑ Denver vs. Chicago
4. ↑ Philipp Jakob: NBA - Portland Trail Blazers after injury of Jusuf Nurkic: The cruel end of all hopes? In: spox.com . March 26, 2019, accessed March 26, 2019 . 
5. ↑ MVP Nurkic Leads All Tournament Team
6. ↑ Jusuf Nurkic named MVP after leading Bosnia to U20 title