Jusuf Nurkic Unlikely To Play In NBA This Season

Jun 26, 2014; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Jusuf Nurkic (Bosnia-Herzegovina) shakes hands with NBA commissioner Adam Silver after being selected as the number sixteen overall pick to the Chicago Bulls in the 2014 NBA Draft at the Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

The Denver Nuggets traded the 11th pick to Chicago for picks 16 and 19. With the 16th overall pick, the Nuggets selected Jusuf Nurkic out of Croatia. With this pick, it was completely expected that Nurkic would be a draft and stash selection. For some reason, fans had hope that he would opt out of his contract and come over and play right away, but that hope is all but gone now.

The main hold up right now is his current contract right now with his team in Croatia. It would cost 1.36 million to buy Nurkic out, and that is over budget in his league. This means that the difference would then have to come out of his pay check that he signs with the Nuggets. The situation is completely surrounded by money, and that is why you won’t see him in a Nuggets uniform next season. Hopefully, Nurkic comes to his senses and realizes the NBA is the best basketball league in the world and come over and play. However that doesn’t seem likely, and it is completely unknown when we will first see him in a Nuggets jersey.