With the 16th overall pick in the June 26th NBA draft, the Nuggets selected Jusuf Nurkic. He had a fairly hefty buyout with his club, KK Cedevita, and it looks like the buyout has been completed and Nurkic's path to the NBA is now clear (tip of the hat to Denver Stiffs reader InboundingLobPass for making me aware of the Tweets from KK Cedevita).
From the KK Cedevita official Twitter account:
Jusuf Nurkić @nurkic23 is from today @denvernuggets player. @KKCedevita wish him luck and good year in @NBA! #kkcdv pic.twitter.com/ZbmbfylT2i
— KK Cedevita (@KKCedevita) July 10, 2014
And from Nurkic's himself via Instagram and Twitter:
Now it’s officially that I left CEDEVITA. At the club we had a great time … that I will remember… http://t.co/rUxQpDldZm
— Jusuf Nurkić (@nurkic23) July 10, 2014
And from David Pick, a Senior Correspondent at Eurobasket.com:
Jusuf Nurkic has opted-out of contract with Croatian club to join Denver. Buyout spread over two-seasons, I’m told.
— David Pick (@IAmDPick) July 10, 2014
Nuggets filed $650k to Croatian club Cedevita to buyout draftee Jusuf Nurkic. He added $135k. Original linkage: https://t.co/Kh7M93a0hJ
— David Pick (@IAmDPick) July 10, 2014
So, what might Nurkic's contract with the Nuggets look like? From the folks at Basketball Insiders:
Draft Pick | 1st Year | 2nd Year | 3rd Year Option | 4th Year % Increase | Qualifying Offer % Increase |
16th | $1.46M | $1.53M | $1.6M | 53.4% | 40.5% |
Nurkic's still isn't likely to play on the Nuggets Summer League team, that begins play Sat. July 12th, but it would appear that he'll be here for training camp and on the roster next season. And that is good news.