OKC Thunder draft prospect profile: Aleksej Pokusevski

Pro Comparison:

Kevin O’Connor of the Ringer lists Detlef Schrempf, Lamar Odom, and Dragan Bender as pro examples.

Personally, other than his height I don’t see the juxtaposition to Bender. At his peak Odom was one of the most intriguing players in the NBA and had he played in this current positionless era he may well have become a superstar.

Odom was different from Pokusevski in that his bone structure did allow him to add the appropriate weight whereas Aleksej will need the perfect strength and conditioning program/coach.

OKC Thunder fit:

Any team that selects Pokusevski will either have to wait for his Olympiakos contract to expire in the 2023-24 season or pay the buyout clause. If he’s drafted in the lottery the price is $1.5 million euros and is $1.0 million euros if he’s a top 20 pick. Even if a team bought out his contract and brought him over to be with the team it would still behoove the club to patiently develop the youngster in their system.

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Not since the start of the franchise have the OKC Thunder been in the position they are in now. And, even then they weren’t sitting with extra picks and swaps for the next seven seasons. Sure there were the incredible first few years in OKC but the team already had Kevin Durant and arrived in OKC with their inaugural rookie pick Russell Westbrook.

With the repositioning era in mind, the rumor is the Thunder made a draft-night promise to Pokusevski. The source of the rumor was Kevin O’Connor on the Ryen Russillo Ringer podcast. That means if the youngster is still available when OKC selects they would pick him. And notably, the last time Presti made a promise of his nature was 2014  — for Kristaps Porzingis who withdrew from the draft.

If we consider Presti’s draft preferences many of his picks are lean and lanky like Durant or Darius Bazley. His wing selections consistently are on the taller side (even if most of them can’t shoot). So, it’s not a reach to imagine the Thunder brain trust’s preference will be to construct a roster featuring length, versatility, and positional adaptability.