The OKC Thunder will look to replace five of their top six scorers from the previous season. Who will vie for some of the top spots?
With the losses of Chris Paul, Dennis Schröder, Danillo Gallinari, and Steven Adams the OKC Thunder will have to replace almost 74 points per game from the 2019-2020 season.
With more than 10 new players, there will be plenty of guys that will have the opportunity to replace the scoring that OKC lost.
A top candidate to replace some scoring for the Thunder will be their 2020 first-round draft pick Aleksej Pokusevski. The 18-year-old Serbian was drafted 17th overall and is looked to be a player with tremendous upside.
Poku, as he is called, is a seven-footer who can pass, shoot, and dribble.
Poku is supposed to still be a bit away from being what the Thunder think he can be, but in his rookie season, he will get ample opportunities to develop his skillset on a rebuilding team.
Pokusevski can shoot the ball from three-point range and has shown the ability to run the break, in the few highlights that are available.
Despite being seven-feet tall, Poku moves very well and can dribble the ball. This will give him good matchups.
Larger guys won’t be able to stay with him despite being stronger than the rail-thin 18-year-old. Smaller guys won’t be able to contend with the size and length of the seven-footer with a seven-foot-five wingspan.
While Pokusevski averaged almost 11 points-per-game as a pro last year, it was in a lower-level league. However, if Poku came off the bench, he would get better matchups and would have more opportunities to score against lesser players.
Pokusevski will have his growing pains during his rookie season, but he will also show plenty of flashes. With the shots available, Pokusevski could average around 9 points per game.
But who are some of the other players on this OKC Thunder team who could vie for the top-spots within the team’s scoring hierarchy?