OKC Thunder: Can Poku Crack the Rotation?

Aleksej Pokusevski has had an injury-riddled career but may have another shot at sticking around in the league.

The Oklahoma City Thunder drafted Pokusevski in the first round of the 2020 draft, and his time in the league has been anything but smooth. Pokusevski has been put in many roles with the Thunder, but this season has played only 31 minutes total.

While some of that was because Pokusevski was recovering from an offseason injury, the Thunder’s 11-4 start has made claiming a spot in the rotation difficult.

In less than a year, the 7-footer has gone from a key piece of the starting lineup to being lucky to play in garbage time. While the Thunder’s success has resulted in little questioning of that decision, Pokusevski could still be a helpful player.

Last season, Pokusevski started 25 of the 34 games he played in. Prior to his injury against the San Antonio Spurs in late December that derailed his season, Pokusevski was an important contributor in 30 games.

In those games, the Serbian averaged nine points and 5.2 rebounds. Pokusevski also showed his ability to shoot from outside, knocking down 1.2 shots from beyond the arc on 37% shooting.

Oklahoma City went 14-16 in those 30 games, so Pokusevski’s presence was not a detriment as some have suggested. In fact, one specific element of his game gave Oklahoma City something they had almost none of otherwise.

While his physicality was lacking, Pokusevski was the closest thing the Thunder had to an inside presence, while Holmgren missed the entire season. As a 7-footer, Pokusevski led the Thunder in blocks with 1.3 per game and finished fifth in rebounding as he averaged 4.7.

While he has not had much opportunity to play this season, his performance in Portland on Sunday helped his case. Pokusevski played the final 8:43 and shined.

Pokusevski filled the stat sheet in his limited minutes with five points, three rebounds and four assists. All of his assists set up 3-pointers in the Thunder’s 43-point win.

While it would be shortsighted to take away too much from garbage time against one of the worst teams in the league, Pokusevski still performed when given the opportunity. That performance, coupled with what he showed early last season, could be enough for him to work his way back into the Thunder’s lineup at some point this season.