Phoenix Suns' Jusuf Nurkic appears slimmer, and developing 3-point shot in social posts

Phoenix Suns center Jusuf Nurkic appears to have lost weight, looking healthier and potentially developing a three-point shot for new head coach Mike Budenholzer.

Recent videos posted to his Instagram story appear to show the center slimmed down while still maintaining an NBA center frame and body-build. The internet took notice, and the videos also show him working on a three-point shot:

Nurkic's efforts to develop a three-point shot stalled last season under then-Suns head coach Frank Vogel. In the 2022-23 season, Nurkic shot 36.1% from deep with the Portland Trail Blazers. That is the highest he had ever shot from back there in a season where he played over 37 games.

The challenge, however, was to do that in a full season. Nurkic missed 30 games in that 2022-23 season.

Three-point shot coming back down to earth

Sure enough, he played the full season (missing just six games) in his first year with the Suns last season. His three-point shooting percentage, however, dipped down to 24.4%.

As a result, he scored the fewest points per game average (10.9) he had since his third year in the NBA back in 2016-17. Meanwhile, Nurkic shot a career-high field goal percentage (51%) in seasons where he has played over 56 games. A three-point shot would work wonders for his offensive game.

Nurkic grabbed 11 boards per contest (top seven in basketball), four assists per contest, 1.1 steals per contest and 1.1 blocks per game.

Forbes' Evan Sidery had reported that Nurkic was undergoing an 'offseason transformation' where he was slimming down and developing that three-point stroke. Sidery posted a video on X of a seemingly slimmed down Nurkic nailing threes:

Nurkic's recent Instagram story confirms that this looks to have indeed continued.

While Atlanta's head coach, Budenholzer went to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2015 with an All-Star stretch-5 at center in Al Horford as his best player. While Milwaukee's head coach, he went to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2019 with a stretch-5 at center in Brook Lopez, who shot 36.5% from deep.

He also won the Finals there in 2021 with Lopez playing the same role and shooting 33.8% from downtown.

Horford only grabbed 7.2 rebounds per game in the 2014-15 season with Budenholzer, which was the lowest of his career to that point (in seasons with 12 or more games played). Lopez only picked up 4.9 and 5 rebounds per game, respectively, in the 2018-19 and 2020-21 seasons. They clearly played a different role for those teams than what Nurkic played for Vogel last season.

Horford, however, weighs 240 pounds. Lopez weighs 282. Nurkic played at 290 last year, so losing weight could be intentional for him, in crafting a body where he could play the center role Budenholzer likes to employ.

With Nurkic hanging out more around the perimeter, he can also facilitate the offense better if he is called to do so, as he is one of the league's top passing centers, averaging the fifth-most assists per game (4) among centers with over 46 games played last year.

With just two other centers on the roster, Mason Plumlee and Bol Bol, Nurkic is projected to start again at center with the Suns for a consecutive season. That specific role at center, however, may not look the same as to what it did with Vogel calling the shots.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Phoenix Suns' Jusuf Nurkic appears slimmer, and developing 3-point shot in social posts