Aleksej Pokusevski was far from a household name among NBA fans, but for a time “Poku” was a favorite of the analytics crowd. The 7-foot forward out of Serbia had shown flashes of potential with the Thunder but also had struggled to stay healthy.
Friday, the Thunder waived Pokusevski. The No. 17 pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, he had played in just 10 games for the team this season and with the emergence of Chet Holmgren his role within the franchise had been filled. There was speculation that Poku could get traded at the deadline as the Thunder had moved on, but another team might want him for a low second-round pick. That didn’t happen, so they waived him.
Pokusevski had played in just 10 games and very limited minutes for the Thunder this season. In his four years with the team he averaged 7.5 points, 4.7 rebounds in 20.6 minutes a game when he got on the court, with a lot of his run coming when this team won 24 games a season and was tanking.
If he can pass a team’s physical, Pokusevski is the kind of “second draft” player a rebuilding team should take a flier on for the rest of the season. He has shown enough potential that it’s worth bringing him in for the final 25 games, getting a close look at him, and then making a decision. There are plenty of teams with an open roster spot.
