At some point, the Thunder's roster crunch was bound to happen. Over the last three seasons, the rebuilding squad was able to give a handful of guys playing time and experiment with different lines. Now 29-13 and second in the Western Conference, though, Mark Daigneault has shored up rotations and has a group of players he trusts night in and night out.
Oklahoma City still prioritizes development, but now, it's not getting in the way of winning basketball games. And that's the right move.
Aleksej Pokusevski was a starter to begin last season, and showed signs of serious improvement before his early season injury. Now, he hardly plays for the current team and hasn't even suited up in a handful of games over the last month. At practice this week, Daigneault explained why it's hard to find a spot on the floor for everyone, even if that means just suiting up.
"He's healthy," the Thunder's head coach said. "You can only dress 15 guys and we've had kind of an uncommon run of health here. We've really had a healthy team for much of the season, which is hard to do.
"Some of that is luck and some of that is the work these guys have put in. Some combination of the 2. You have to make 3 guys inactive and we usually just put out the 15 in uniform that we think are most relevant for that game that night."
Oklahoma City's first round pick from the 2020 draft has played in just seven total games this season and hasn't found a groove whatsoever. He received 14 minutes of playing time on October 29 against the Nuggets and missed his only shot attempt while committing two turnovers.
In 34 games a season ago, Pokusevski averaged 8.1 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.3 blocks in 20 minutes per game. His efficiency was steadily improving from his rookie season, as he shot 43.4% from the floor and 36.5% from 3-point range.
This past summer, though, he suffered multiple injuries which really hindered his development. It was supposed to be a big summer for him heading into a contract year. The Thunder opted to not pick up his option, making him a restricted free agent this summer.
If there's an injury over the second half of the season, his number could still be called. But if the first few months of the season are any indication, there's still quite a few players needing court time ahead of him.
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