OKC Thunder season grades: Aleksej Pokusevski hints of future success

OKC Thunder contract and season grades for Aleksej Pokusevski

Contract grade: A

Pokusejski is in the first season of his rookie contract worth only $2.9 million. Considering all the contract money that the Thunder shed in the offseason, this is just a drop in the ocean. The Thunder need the contract space if they are going to use it to land a superstar next season.

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Next season Pokusevski is on $3.1 million which will help the Thunder with that goal. On top of that, Pokusevski is going to have a full preseason to develop even further. If Pokusevski is able to develop as much as he did without the normal preseason, he will continue to produce good numbers on a small deal.

Season grade: B

Pokusevski has done what is required of a rookie this season. He came in raw and needing to acclimatize into a new country and new league. He did all that, taking time to develop and grow. He struggled until the G-League bubble, but he would have developed faster if the G-League was in action like a normal season.

It wasn’t, therefore the fact Pokusevski developed the way he did is incredible. The optics on his season were not great if you had expectations beyond the reality of a rookie needing to develop. As the youngest player in the league, his ceiling is incredibly high and this season was just the beginning.