Defining Aleksej Pokusevski's Role with Oklahoma City

A look at where Aleksej Pokusevski fits on the Thunder going forward.

As the injuries have piled up for the Thunder this season the remaining players have been asked to expand their games to fill in the vacant positions like they're the newest product Phil Swift is promoting.

Oklahoma City (22-53) has used a myriad of starting lineups this season with each coming as a direct result of that night’s opponent. But with the four players with the most starts this season all sidelined, players like Aleksej Pokusevski have been thrust into the starting lineup in their place.

With five of the Thunder’s seven highest usage players injured, Poku has been asked to shoulder more of the ball-handling load in recent weeks. In Monday night’s overtime win in Portland Poku racked up a career-high 11 assists — more than twice his previous high (5).

According to Basketball-Reference, Poku has split his time between power forward and center nearly 50-50 with the occasional stint at small forward. The issue is, due to his size at 7 feet, those numbers can be misleading.

driving and dishing ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/J0o27g41Xn

— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) March 29, 2022

Poku, 20, has shown flashes of brilliant passing and feel for the game in his two seasons with OKC — also some not-so-great moments — but the potential to be an impactful secondary ball-handler is obvious. 

Depending on who you ask the Thunder have as many as five point guards on the current roster when healthy, so Poku is never going to be the Thunder’s primary creator, but he does have a knack for being in the right places to help the team generate offense.

Poku was the youngest player in the 2020 draft and younger than all but 12 of the current rookie class, so he is still far from the finished product, but the signs of what’s to come are beginning to show.

Over the last month, Poku has averaged 12.1 points, 7.6 rebounds and 3.9 assists — all of which would be career highs.

When the 2022-23 season kicks off, and the Thunder are presumably fully healthy, Poku will likely rejoin the bench unit and provide his services in shorter bursts than those he will finish this season with. With a roster full of interchangeable parts the Thunder will benefit from having someone as versatile as Pokusevski to plug and play wherever needed. 

So, whether it's at power forward, center or a new position Pokusevski brings a unique level of versatility to a team that will undoubtedly continue to experiment with lineups throughout next season. 

---

Want to join the discussion? Like SI Thunder on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest Thunder news. You can also meet the team behind the coverage.