Thunder Forward to Play in 2023 FIBA World Cup

On Monday, Team Serbia announced that Oklahoma City forward Aleksej Pokusevski will be on the team's roster for the 2023 FIBA World Cup starting in late August.

The 7-foot-1 21-year-old is one of four NBA players on Serbia's squad, playing alongside Philadelphia big man Filip Petrusev, Miami forward Nikola Jovic and Atlanta wing Bogdan Bogdanovic.

Between the four NBA players on Serbia's roster, Bogdanovic and Pokusevski have clearly made the biggest impact on their American teams, with Jovic spending most of his rookie season in the G League and Petrusev not coming to the NBA yet despite being drafted in 2021

Last season with the Thunder, Pokusevski had a very strong start to the year before a fracture in his leg derailed the former first-round pick's season. Still, the young forward averaged 8.1 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.3 blocks per game while shooting 36.5% from beyond the arc.

Prior to his leg injury, however, Pokusevski averaged 8.8 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game while shooting 37.6% from beyond the arc. If the skilled 7-footer can reproduce his impressive start to last season for Team Serbia, their squad will likely be competitive in the Pool Play section of the tournament.

Serbia is joined in Group B by China, Puerto Rico and South Sudan. Serbia's opening contest will be against China on August 26.

Team China is headlined by former Houston Rockets' big man Zhou Qi and former G League Ignite forward Fanbo Zeng.

Team Serbia will be without two of its top players in the 2023 FIBA World Cup, as Nikola Jokic and Vasilije Micic have both elected not to play in the tournament this summer.

Fresh off an NBA title, it is no surprise that Jokic has decided to sit out of FIBA this year. For Micic, the new Thunder guard has expressed that he is focused on his transition to the NBA after signing with Oklahoma City earlier this summer.

Thunder players Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Josh Giddey, Lu Dort, Jack White and Davis Bertans are also slated to play in the 2023 FIBA World Cup.

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