Thunder Forward Aleksej Pokusevski has Found Middle Ground

Serbian forward Aleksej Pokusevski is seeing his most consistent stretch of basketball yet.

It wasn’t long ago that Aleksej Pokusevski, fresh off minimal minutes for the Olympiacos of the EuroLeague, was thrust into the NBA spotlight.

Drafted No. 17 overall and the youngest player in his class, Pokusevski was hardly ready for the big leagues, but he earned some crucial Thunder minutes nonetheless.

A, fairly unproductive, stint in the G-League helped Pokusevski immensely in his freshman season.

In his first 17 games, he averaged 3.3 points on 24 percent shooting overall and 17 percent from 3-point land. Dreadful.

In the last 28 of his debut season, he averaged 11.1 per game on 36 percent shooting, while shooting 31 percent from three. It was by no means the stats of an 19 year old that should be seeing the floor often, but an improvement nonetheless.

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Pokusevski’s sophomore season again got off to a rocky start, but after multiple G-League stints, he’s finally beginning to settle in again.

Pokusevski’s sweet spot is far off from his polarizing alter-ego. His high’s less high and low’s less low, Pokusevski has recently made a name for himself with solid, fundamental basketball.

Since returning from his last G-League trip, he’s averaging 10.9 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.3 blocks. He’s shooting 48 percent overall from the field and 37 percent from beyond the arc. Simply put, it’s easily his best ever stretch of basketball.

Sure, there have been highs much better. But the flash he's been unable to sustain usually brings along lows that leave him relegated.

Pokusevski has found middle ground, and will now look to build upon the foundation he’s currently laying down in the late-stretch of his sophomore season.

Miraculously, Pokusevski is still younger than a large portion of the 2022 NBA Draft class.

Oklahoma City is back in action on Wednesday with a road matchup against Denver at 8 p.m.

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