Jusuf Nurkic (C, DEN) - NBA Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Speculative Add/Stash for REB/BLK

OWNED: 37% of Yahoo! Fantasy Basketball Leagues

As a rookie last season, former first-round pick Jusuf Nurkic was a trendy pickup, rewarding owners with nice depth in their frontcourt, particularly in the rebounding and blocks categories. Nurkic finished 2014-2015 as the starting center for the Nuggets, prompting many to believe that the young Bosnian would flourish in year two with more confidence and a defined role. Despite news of a successful knee surgery back in May, initial reports had Denver’s young big man out for 3-4 months, putting him right on track for the start of his sophomore campaign. Four months later, however, reports broke that the knee surgery would likely keep Nurkic out for the start of the regular season, and he fell off many draft boards.

As a starting center in 27 games for the Nuggets last season, Nurkic played right around 24 minutes per contest, compiling impressive per-game averages of 8.3 ppg/8.0 rpg/1.4 bpg/1.0 spg. With an obvious bump in minutes, those numbers were expected to serve as Nurkic’s floor this season. With news breaking this past week that his return is getting closer, a December return seems probable.

Bottom Line: When Nurkic returns, it is possible the Nuggets choose to ease their young center back into action.  However, if you are in need of a rebounding, shot-blocking center capable of scoring 10+ points, Nurkic could be your guy. His upside warrants a speculative add/stash, or at least a close monitoring this week. One of the biggest difficulties many fantasy owners have is when to add an injured player capable of making a difference. I always say it is better to gamble a week early than missing out and being a week late. That advice holds especially true if the last guy on your roster does not offer the upside that Nurkic is capable of providing.