JusufNurkic

News: 7 days agoNurkic was traded to the Suns on Wednesday as part of a three-team deal between Phoenix, Portland and Milwaukee, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reports. The deal also sends Damian Lillard to Milwaukee and Jrue Holiday and Deandre Ayton to Portland.

Spin: While Lillard and Holiday are the big headliners, Nurkic brings some much-needed big man depth to Phoenix in the wake of Ayton being shipped to Portland in the deal. For the most part, Nurkic has struggled with injuries over the last four seasons, playing 52, 56, 37 and eight games, respectively. When healthy, he's a productive source of points, rebounds and defensive stats, but he'll likely slide in as a secondary piece on a Suns roster that has plenty of offensive firepower.

ESPN Fantasy Projection: Nurkic was a top-100 fantasy player early in his career, but his durability has been an issue in recent seasons. Since 2018-19, the center hasn't played more than 56 games in a season, and hasn't quite been the same player since he broke his leg at the end of that campaign. Three consecutive seasons have gone by without him finishing as a top-100 fantasy player. Last season, Nurkic averaged 13.3 PPG, 9.1 RPG, 1.0 BPG and 3.0 APG in 26.7 minutes per game. He has been a reliable source of points, rebounds and blocks throughout his career, but now in Phoenix his per game averages will suffer on a team with Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal.