How Aleksej Pokusevski's Injury Could Impact the Thunder on Draft Night
Aleksej Pokusevski made huge strides between the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons, transforming from a raw forward who showed flashes of skill to a valuable role player who can block shots and knock down 3-point attempts. Prior to an injury derailing his breakout season, the Thunder big man had finally begun to find his role on the team.
In 2022-23, the 7-footer averaged 8.1 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.3 blocks per game while shooting 36.5% from beyond the arc.
Pokusevski was a regular starter early in the season, cracking the starting lineup 25 times over the course of his third year in the league. After returning from injury, however, Poku scored only three total points for the remainder of the season.
In OKC's two Play-In games, Pokusevski did not see the court, despite being off of the injury report.
Now, with another setback coming for the Serbian, the Thunder may be skeptical about whether or not they can count on Pokusevski. The offseason is usually when NBA players do the most to improve their craft, meaning that the Thunder forward will miss a significant amount of practice time.
For OKC, the timing of Pokusevski's injury allows General Manager Sam Presti and company to find the forward's replacement in the NBA Draft. Weather Oklahoma City trades up to grab a player who could be gone before pick No. 12, or stays put to pick in their original slot, it is likely that the team will be in search of a power forward who can play the minutes that belonged to Poku early last season.
Some of the most common theoretical targets to replace the 7-footer are UCF's Taylor Hendricks and Houston's Jarace Walker. It is almost impossible to guess whether or not the UCF freshman will be available at No. 12, but if he is, there is good reason to believe that the Thunder would take a serious look at Hendricks.
It is almost guaranteed that Walker will be off the board in the top-10, meaning that Oklahoma City would have to trade up in the draft in order to have a chance at selecting the former 5-star recruit. With Pokusevski's injury, however, Presti may be more willing to go get Walker to compete with the Serbian forward for playing time.
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