Oklahoma City's Aleksej Pokusevski's Rookie Season Showed a Limitless Ceiling
Aleksej Pokusevski’s rookie season is nearly incomparable.
Not only does the 7-foot Serbian have an incredibly unique skillset, its not often you find someone with the rookie journey he took.
Taken at No. 17 overall in the 2021 NBA Draft, Pokusevski is a gravitational player. He stands at 7-foot, 195-pounds and owns a 7-foot-3 wingspan.
He was exactly the type of player you’d expect Oklahoma City Thunder general manager Sam Presti to take a chance on.
On a young rebuilding rose, Pokusevski was throw right into the mix, playing around 10 minutes in the first game of the season before graduating to 14 in the next, and 20 in the third.
Should Pokusevski ever ignite into an all-star, his first ever stat-line of 0-for-6 shooting from the field, all 3-point attempts, could be a talking point.
To summarize, the youngest player in the league’s NBA start was expectedly shaky. In his first 17 games, the forward averaged 3.3 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.2 assists in an average of 17 minutes.
Pokusevski shot 24 percent from the field on 5.5 attempts and just 17 percent from 3-point land. In a time where Oklahoma City was decently competitive, he fielded a -4.4 plus-minus.
Luckily for Pokusevski and the Thunder, his start was just one chapter in a three-part series that was his rookie season.
Oddly enough, Pokusevski didn’t have a great G-League career. He showed obvious improvement — 7.9 points, 7.3 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game at an average of 25 minutes — but there were still blatant struggles.
Thunder forward Aleksej Pokusevki
Alonzo Adams / USA TODAY Sports
Be it the team fit or still working out the kinks, his offensive rhythm still wasn’t there. Flashes were there, but still not enough to say his overall product could improve.
It wasn’t until after his G-League stint that “Poku” showed what he can be.
His first game back in the big leagues featured 14 points, eight rebounds and two blocks. Two games later he exploded for 23 points on 5-for-8 3-point shooting.
Pokusevski was back. And he looked like a totally new player, one that more than likely made Presti think his gamble paid off.
In 28 games after the G-League bubble, Pokusevski averaged 11.1 points, 5.4 rebound and 2.7 assists, shooting an improved 36 percent from the field and 31 percent from three.
Pokusevski didn’t have a great rookie season by any means. But there were flashes of stardom for a rookie who might not peak for five more years.
Getting a bit more run than his peers, Pokusevski ranked 19th in points, 10th in rebounds and 17th in assists per game amongst rookies.
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You’ll be hard pressed to find an easy comparison for Pokusevski’s peculiar debut.
Soon-to-be MVP Nikola Jokic, his most obvious stylistic comparison, averaged 10.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 21.7 minutes per game with Denver. Similarities can be seen between late-season Pokusevski and Jokic’s rookie year.
After starting his career 0-for-6, Pokusevski capped off his season with a masterful 29-point, 8-rebound performance highlighted with six 3-pointers and a win over the skeleton crew Clippers.
In a rollercoaster of a season, Pokusevski will more than likely only ascend from here.
