Ex-Charlotte Hornet Aleksej Pokuševski Leaves NBA for Opportunity Overseas

The former first-round pick finds himself out of the league after just four years.

David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

Former Charlotte Hornet forward Aleksej Pokuševski is officially leaving the NBA...for now. According to Sportklub, Pokuševski is signing a deal with Partizan Mozzart Bet, a professional team in Belgrade, Serbia.

Pokuševski was one of the several pieces the Hornets received in the Gordon Hayward trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder. The former first-round pick showed flashes early in his career of being a quality bench piece, but fell out of the rotation as Oklahoma City's bench got deeper and found himself vying for playing time in Charlotte.

In 18 games with the Hornets, Pokuševski averaged 7.4 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 1.7 assists per game while shooting 42% from the field and 36% from thre- point range. He put together a good stretch of games, eventually taking minutes away from JT Thor in a reserved role, but he never felt like someone the Hornets would move forward with beyond the 2023-24 season. He, along with Bryce McGowens, and Davis Bertans were waived in early July.

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