Thunder Cut Aleksej Pokusevski; Should Knicks Sign?

The New York Knicks could sign recently-waived Oklahoma City Thunder forward Aleksej Pokusevski.

Jeremy Brener | Feb 23, 2024

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New York Knicks

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.

Julius Randle Thunder — Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports

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.

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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).

Published Feb 23, 2024

JEREMY BRENER

Jeremy Brener is an editor, writer and social media manager for several Fan Nation websites. His work has also been featured in 247 Sports and SB Nation as a writer and podcaster. Brener has been with Fan Nation since 2021. Brener grew up in Houston, going to Astros, Rockets and Texans games as a kid. He moved to Orlando in 2016 to go to college and pursue a degree. He hosts "The Dream Take" podcast covering the Rockets, which has produced over 350 episodes since March 2020. Brener graduated in May 2020 from the University of Central Florida with a Bachelor's degree in Broadcast Journalism minoring in Sport Business Management. While at UCF, Brener worked for the school's newspaper NSM.today and "Hitting the Field," a student-run sports talk show and network. He was the executive producer for "Hitting the Field" from 2019-20. During his professional career, Brener has covered a number of major sporting events including the Pro Bowl, March Madness and several NBA and NFL games. As a fan, Brener has been to the 2005 World Series, 2010 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 NCAA National Championship between the Villanova Wildcats and North Carolina Tar Heels. Now, Brener still resides in the Central Florida area and enjoys writing, watching TV, hanging out with friends and going to the gym. Brener can be followed on Twitter @JeremyBrener. For more inquiries, please email jeremybrenerchs@gmail.com.