How Suns Center Can Build Strong Second Season

The Phoenix Suns' starting center can build off of a solid first season with the franchise.

Apr 7, 2024; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; New Orleans Pelicans forward-center Larry Nance Jr. (22) dunks over Phoenix Suns center Jusuf Nurkic (20) during the first half at Footprint Center. Mandatory Credit: Allan Henry-Imagn Images / Allan Henry-Imagn Images

PHOENIX -- The 2024-25 Phoenix Suns season is officially upon us - with the regular season opener set for just over a month from now.

Year two of Jusuf Nurkic in the Valley of the Sun naturally is set to arrive with 2024 Media Day on September 30 - and he will seek to build off of a moderately successful debut season in Phoenix.

Everything Nurkic has done well to this point of his career was magnified as a member of the Suns.

He was the number 1 player in contested offensive rebound % in 2023-24 per BBall Index - inherently creating extra possessions for an offense chalk full of shot making.

He also continued to be one of the better passing big men in the league - which made him a unique weapon up-top and aided in the elite off-ball games of Devin Booker/Kevin Durant.

With all the positive things he brought to the table came the limitations as well - his conditioning, lack of explosive athleticism, and an inconsistent three-point shot were among those.

Believe it or not, all of these things could be patched over in 2024-25.

.@bosnianbeast27 🏜️ pic.twitter.com/7J4JFBZl87

— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) September 15, 2024

Nurkic appears to be in the best shape he has been in years via several offseason social media posts - which have also included videos of the big man working on his jump shot.

Nurkic's limitations as an athlete could be aided by the improved conditioning, although he may never be as explosive of an athlete as before the leg injury suffered in 2019 - but he could be able to play for longer periods of time and hold his own more on defense - particularly in the postseason.

As for the floor spacing - Nurkic shot 36.1% from three-point range in 2022-23 on 2.3 attempts per contest - and this could be just a taste of what is to come in the high-volume outside strategy that is intertwined in head coach Mike Budenholzer's offense.

This could be vital to unlocking the ceiling of the Suns' offense - as Nurkic could be a true high/low threat on a possession-to-possession basis.

He could be a true outside threat that allows the Suns to run five-out concepts - while also being a tenacious screen-setter and elite on the offensive glass.

Truth be told, Nurkic is quite possibly the most consequential X-factor on this team in 2024-25. If he hones in on what he does best while also reinventing himself on other fronts, the Suns could be every bit of the title contender that they were expected to be this time last year.