NBA Trade Rumors: 5 Teams That Should Trade For Jusuf Nurkic

The Denver Nuggets are reportedly looking to trade third-year center Jusuf Nurkic. Which NBA teams should make a move for the bruising big man?

The Denver Nuggets have been experimenting with interior lineups for the better part of two seasons. Head coach Michael Malone has utilized the likes of Kenneth Faried, Nikola Jokic, and Jusuf Nurkic in his attempts to find the perfect starting duo.

After just one-and-a-half seasons, the Nuggets have reportedly decided upon which player is the odd man out.

Denver selected Nurkic at No. 16 in the 2014 NBA Draft and took Jokic just 25 spots later at No. 41 overall. Nurkic had an impressive rookie season in 2014-15, but lost his place to Jokic after suffering a severe knee injury.

According to Marc Stein of ESPN, the Nuggets have accepted that the Jokic and Nurkic pairing doesn’t work and are looking to trade the latter member.

"Sources told ESPN that the Nuggets — having acknowledged that it’s difficult to accommodate both Nurkic and Nikola Jokic in the same frontcourt — have made Nurkic available and are searching out deals that would give him the Bosnian big man an opportunity to go elsewhere and start anew."

That creates a tantalizing opportunity for a number of NBA teams.

Though Jokic has become the new craze in Denver, Nurkic has star potential of his own that could be explored in a different market. Thus far in 2016-17, he’s averaging 8.6 points, 6.2 rebounds, 2.1 offensive boards, 1.3 assists, and 0.9 blocks in 18.7 minutes per game.

The question is: which team should take a chance on Nurkic and give him a chance to realize his potential outside of Denver?