Thunder Cut Aleksej Pokusevski; Should Knicks Sign?
The New York Knicks have space on their roster, and a new candidate to fill that role has just been made available.
According to The Athletic's Shams Charania, the Oklahoma City Thunder have waived former first-round pick Aleksej Pokusevski. The Serbian-born big man was a first-round pick in the 2020 draft and had spent four seasons in the Thunder organization.
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Pokusevski, 22, played in just 10 games for the Thunder this past season, averaging 1.2 points. While the Thunder (38-17) has risen up the Western Conference leaderboard thanks to the efforts of numerous first-round picks, Pokusevski had effectively fallen out of the rotation, playing just 60 minutes this year.
Viewed as a long-term project coming out of Grecian-based Olympiacos in the draft, Pokusevski's 7-foot, 210-pound frame mirrors the likes of players like Kristaps Porzingis and Victor Wembanyama, but he was unable to garner enough playing time with the Thunder nor make enough flashes to warrant more minutes.
However, he is still incredibly raw and carries perhaps just enough potential and upside to impact an NBA team moving forward, including the Knicks.
New York is still one of the smaller teams in the league, and adding Pokusevski to the team would certainly make up for some of the height lost with Mitchell Robinson's long-term injury. Pokusevski wouldn't be considered a rotation piece for the stretch run of the season, but rather some added depth that the Knicks could look to in a pinch, especially if Robinson replacement Isaiah Hartenstein goes down again.
Should the Knicks claim him off waivers, they would only be responsible for the remainder of his $5 million contract for this season before he becomes a restricted free agent in the summer.
The Knicks are back in action on Saturday when the NBA-best Boston Celtics visit Madison Square Garden (8:30 p.m. ET, ABC).
