OKC Thunder: Passing will determine Aleksej Pokusevski’s ceiling

Tyler Parker believes OKC Thunder rookie, Aleksej Pokusevski’s ceiling will be determined by his passing progressions

At this point, it’s quite obvious that the front office for the OKC Thunder has been executing their franchise rebuild to perfection.

Already cast aside is the brunt of the hard work of finding a franchise player, for Oklahoma City already has budding star, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, in place, the next step of their journey is to fill out the roster around him with competent role players and high-upside talents.

The most likely route Sam Presti and co. will take to accomplish this goal is through the draft, where, through the year 2027, the organization will find itself in possession of 34 total picks, 17 of which could come in the first round.

However, before they go about and start utilizing their capital, OKC must sift through their current crop of ballers to determine which of them will stay along for the rebuilding ride.

Rolling out one of the youngest rosters in the entire league, Presti will have a plethora of youthful players to analyze over the next few years to determine who could serve as a long-term fixture within the rotation and who could be replaced through the draft.

Perhaps one of the most intriguing of the Thunder’s young bunch is rookie forward, Aleksej Pokusevski, who possesses an intriguing combination of size and skill that could wind up being of great benefit to the franchise down the line.

Finding himself in and out of the G-League throughout his first year in the NBA, the Serbian-born talent has showcased flashes of potential during his 36 games played with the OKC Thunder.

Though his averages of 7.5 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.1 assists, and 1.1 blocks on 33 percent shooting from the floor and 27 percent shooting from deep won’t blow anyone away, when watching him on the hardwood it’s quite evident that the team could have found something special in the 19-year-old.

When selected 17th overall, it was well known that Poku was unbelievably raw however, the intrigue surrounding the 7-0 big was heavily influenced by the potential in which he possesses.

Now, through an up-and-down first season, the question pertaining to the young buck is how high can his ceiling be?

Well, in a recent interview on The Ringer NBA Show podcast, writer Tyler Parker believes that Aleksej Pokuševski’s potential will heavily be influenced by his passing abilities.

"“I think passing is his one-percent skill,” Parker said. “I think that is his, like, special elite, you know, cream of the crop in the league. That’s the thing that will set him apart.”“He’s a great passer already. He completes passes that are confusingly good, you know?”"

This interview comes only a few days after we pushed out a piece discussing how, during this final stretch of the season, we believe the OKC Thunder should strongly consider utilizing Poku as somewhat of a point-forward, and discussed the idea that the team is already looking to play positionless basketball and that the league sees guys of his size often handling the rock:

"With his crafty combination of deception and hesitation maneuvers, Poku has proven capable of catching his defender off guard, allowing him to make his way past them to either look for his own shot or bring on a double-team where he can dish it to an open teammate.With examples of frontcourt-built players who can handle the rock and pass ranging from Ben Simmons and Nikola Jokic to Anthony Davis and Bam Adebayo, it’s evident how drastic of a shift the league is taking part in when it comes to positionless basketball.Because of this, coupled with the Thunder’s apparent need for secondary ball handlers, perhaps running schemes and plays that consist of Pokuševski taking charge of the offense could be an intriguing way of getting a better understanding as to whether he can operate in such a role at some point down the road."

Already evident to OKC Thunder fans, Aleksej Pokusevski has an unusually impressive court vision for someone his size.

In order to reach his full potential, the young forward must look to make that a better-scultped aspect of his game.