The NBA playoffs tipped off yesterday and while it was fun getting to witness that type of action it was also a bit depressing not to see our OKC Thunder in the mix. It served as a reminder of how special this time of year is in the sport and the copious memories Thunder Nation has in the memory bank.
With so many former OKC players participating it was easy to fall into the habit of pulling for the team with the past Thunder star.
Kevin Durant and James Harden demonstrated just how lethal their Nets offense is while the Clippers even gave a hat tip to someone they no doubt wish was still with their organization.
The Clippers have a cutout of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in the crowd lol pic.twitter.com/fw4MEDlinL
— Farbod Esnaashari (@Farbod_E) May 23, 2021
Watching Luka Doncic, Jayson Tatum, Damian Lillard, and Nikola Jokic also reinforced how important a generational talent can be for an organization. Of course, that led to circling back to thinking of the Thunder and what pick(s) the Thunder will be making and how that will impact the franchise.
OKC Thunder season end roundtable – Player most excited to see next year
With Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Luguentz Dort and Darius Bazley in hand the OKC Thunder have a strong foundational core to build around. SGA has the potential to be an All-Star and Dort could be a future Defensive Player of the Year.
The ceilings of these players and others are far from tapped and with the team rebuilding, opportunity abounds for every player to carve out a role for themselves.
This leads to our next question in the Intentions season end roundtable.
Question 6: Which Thunder player are you most looking forward to watching next season?
Tamberlyn Richardson – @TTOTambz
The easy answer is Aleksej Pokusevski. Those who are regular followers of Intentions know of my obsession with everything the youngster does. POKU has my full attention on a play-by-play basis, let alone a game-to-game basis, or next season.
I’m already hyped for Summer League and hoping he’ll play. If he does it won’t be surprising if his fan base grows exponentially with all the fans who didn’t watch the OKC Thunder this season get their first look at him.
It’s a given there will be an emphasis on POKU gaining strength and size. His fundamental skillset is already sharp so it’s the prospect of his growth in terms of shooting efficiency that should have Thunder Nation giddy.
I’m also eager to witness how each of the core develops and the specific areas of their games they’ll focus on. The best players in the league take each offseason to add one more thing to their game. I’m betting SGA, Dort, Bazley, and Isaiah Roby each return with a new skill.
Mark Nilon – @MarkNilon_NBA
Easily Aleksej Pokuševski. At 7-0, with a 7-3 wingspan, the man has the size and length to serve in the frontcourt, but a drive to play as someone who can flourish in the backcourt.
With his impressive distribution skills and ball handling for someone of his size, we at TI have been hoping to see Point Poku come into effect virtually all season and, over the last month of action, head coach Mark Daigneault opted to experiment with exactly this.
In fact, during the last four outings whilst playing a majority of his time as a point forward, the rookie put up impressive per-game averages of 14.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 2.5 assists on 46 percent shooting from both downtown and the field overall.
With an offseason to hone his skills and, hopefully, to gain some size, Aleksej Pokuševski will come into the 2021-22 season with a ton of buzz amongst the OKC Thunder community.
Shontelle Matano: @ShontelleMatano
More from Thunderous Intentions
- Stealing one player from every Southwest Division team for the OKC Thunder
- Should the OKC Thunder chase after a disgruntled hometown hero?
- 3 OKC Thunder players who can step up in Aleksej Pokusevski’s absence
- Aleksej Pokusevski sidelined approximately 6 weeks with ankle injury
- Damian Lillard does not fit with the OKC Thunder
I’m most looking forward to watching Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. I feel like he has only scratched the surface. I’m excited to see him take the Thunder to new heights in a new year where I’m projecting them to fight for the top eight.
He has had many impressive individual performances and I’m looking forward to seeing him continue to show that he is a legit star in this league. Here’s also hoping he is selected in the All-Star game after missing out this season.
Matthew Hallett – @mervsports78
I am looking forward to watching Darius Bazley next year. He grew so much this season and will be even better when he gets another offseason under his belt. When he starts to combine his athleticism with an even greater basketball IQ, he will be so much better
Brandon Dale: @MrOKCtober
The player I am most looking forward to watching next season is Aleksej Pokusevski. Poku has the most upside of any Thunder player on this roster, and he has already hinted at working on his game this off-season by adding muscle and working on his game two weeks after the seasons’ end. Poku will be exciting to watch next year.