Jusuf Nurkic's NBA career went downhill after the Portland Trail Blazers traded him away in 2023. He bounced around the league with stops at Phoenix and Charlotte before ultimately winding up in Utah this offseason.
The Jazz were criticized for their surprising trade, which involved packaging Collin Sexton and draft capital to land a center whose career seemed to be trending downward. Both Phoenix and Charlotte still needed long-term centers, yet they agreed that Nurkic wasn't the solution.
But the Jazz clearly saw something in Nurkic that these other teams failed to notice. It's the same thing that Blazers fans saw during his seven seasons in Rip City.