Report: Jusuf Nurkic will play for Denver Nuggets this season
By Josh Hill
The Denver Nuggets pulled off a petty spectacular draft day trade the other week with the Chicago Bulls when they moved No. 11 overall pick Doug McDermott in exchange for what turned out to be Jusuf Nukic and Gary Harris Jr.
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There wasn’t much doubt about Harris coming to Denver this season to play but the same could not be said about Nurkic, who needed to be bought out from his overseas contract before his NBA career could officially start. While it appeared that such a thing was going to be a problem, Chris Dempsy from the Denver Post is reporting that Nurkic’s buyout isn’t an issue and he will be ready to go this fall when the Nuggets tip off their season.
Contrary to reports, the contract buyout for #Nuggets first-round pick Jusuf Nurkic is not a problem & he will be with the team in the fall.
— Chris Dempsey (@chrisadempsey) July 5, 2014
This is exactly what Nuggets fans wanted to hear as the team needs a boost this season and they can’t afford to wait around for foreign players to finish their contracts overseas. Nurkic is one of the best big men in the draft but there was doubt about when he’d be coming over which sunk his stock a bit.
Denver has nothing to worry about though as the focus can shift from hoping Nurkic will come over in 2014-15 to how he can help the team win next season.