3 OKC Thunder players who can step up in Aleksej Pokusevski’s absence

The OKC Thunder have seen Aleksej Pokusevski suffer another injury, his third in the calendar year. With Pokusevski sidelined for approximately the next six weeks before being re-evaluated, the Oklahoma City Thunder will go through training camp, the preseason, and the start of the regular season without the 21-year-old big man.

Aleksej Pokusevski strung together the best basketball of his career a year ago before his devastating leg injury that, for all purposes, ended his season. While he did return to play in a few tilts, he never rekindled that November magic.

3 OKC Thunder players who can step up in the absence of Aleksej Pokusevski.

Heading into a contract year, many expected Aleksej Pokusevski to not see an extension head his way. It would be wildly team-friendly for the OKC Thunder to extend an offer.

In contrast, if Pokusevski can keep that November pace over a longer stretch, he would earn himself a more significant payday—a classic bet-on-yourself situation.

However, after a summer littered with injuries, it is hard to grasp exactly what is next for Aleksej Pokusevski. Perhaps he and the team are more willing to work out an extremely team-friendly extension to continue to give Pokusevski time to develop.

At just 21 years old, taking a light payday is not the end of the world, with plenty of time to make it up on his next pact. Whereas playing out this contract could lead to even murky waters if the injuries continue to pile up.

Having dealt with a leg injury in late December, a broken arm in July, and now a sprained ankle, Aleksej Pokusevski has seen some bad injury luck. How will Mark Daigneault fill his spot in the rotation to start this season? Let’s dive into three players who can step up and run with this opportunity.

Ousmane Dieng can step up for the OKC Thunder in a major way with Aleksej Pokusevski out.

The Oklahoma City Thunder drafted Ousmane Dieng 11th overall in the 2022 NBA Draft, trading three first-round picks to secure their third lottery pick of the night. His rookie season was a bit of a rollercoaster.

In the Summer League, Dieng suffered a wrist injury that held him out for weeks; as his regular season progressed, Dieng dealt with another wrist injury (unrelated) as he was playing his best basketball, and throughout his time, he gained valuable G-League experience that went relatively unnoticed given the success of the varsity club.

Throughout the season, Ousmane Dieng had flashes of being a premier defender on the perimeter who can switch at all three levels and stick with fast-twitch ball handlers. The highlight of his defensive prowess was locking up Steph Curry for a possession to flaunt his potential.

On the offensive end, the 6’11 wing is an extremely capable playmaker who dominated at the rim, shooting 73 percent at the rim, ranking himself 86th percentile for his position. In the G-League, Dieng shot 39 percent on catch-and-shoot looks. Dieng produces over a point per possession as a cutter, an extremely good clip for the young forward.

Defensively, Ousmane Dieng dominated in isolation, but at the NBA level, he played in just 39 games, averaging 14 minutes per contest to go along with five points, two rebounds, and an assist per tilt.

The 20-year-old has had a great summer by all accounts, and he could take advantage of the early season run in Mark Daigneault’s rotation in the absence of Aleksej Pokusevski.

The OKC Thunder could go small and lean on rookies without Aleksej Pokusevski available.

Everyone loves a good BOGO sale, so I will give you a two-for-one on the three players to step up without Aleksej Pokusevski and discuss both rookies.

Keyontae Johnson was selected 50th overall by the OKC Thunder back in July, and he flashed some juice at the NBA Summer League as a small ball forward for Mark Daigneault’s club. Johnson is on a two-way pact, and we all know the Thunder are not scared to put those players on the floor to find diamonds in the rough.

I expect Keyontae Johnson to get a lot of run in the NBA preseason as the Thunder navigate an interesting slate with some abnormal travel. Still, the actual regular season run might come from his rookie counterpart.

Enter Cason Wallace, who Sam Presti was so convinced in he traded up two spots by taking on an awful contract to acquire. That is good news for Wallace; not only does the organization believe in him, but Presti rarely, if ever, misses inside the top ten. Oh yeah, and he is a Kentucky guard; what could go wrong? It is all turning up Wallace!

Throughout this Summer, OKC Thunder fans have been scrambling to find out how Mark Daigneault will flip through the Rolodex of players on this roster and find minutes for each player. Without Aleksej Pokusevski sidelined to start the season, it opens up a spot on most nights. This organization still believes in Pokusevski, rightfully so after his stretch last year.

This can open the door to more Cason Wallace action by playing “small” and having him share the floor with Vasilije Micic, Isaiah Joe, Aaron Wiggins, and a Williams (Kenrich or Jaylin); that is a pretty, pretty, pretty good bench mob for this young Thunder team.

These rookies have an added edge entering training camp with minutes up for grabs. Can either step up and grab hold of a rotational spot as Mark Daigneault explores the roster yet again?

The OKC Thunder can get creative with Davis Bertans’ role to work around his contract restrictions.

There is no shortage of options for the Oklahoma City Thunder to fill in Aleksej Pokusevski’s spot. Kenrich Williams and Jaylin Williams led the way for secondary duty; remember, these names could step up, given the opportunity. When I say going old, Kenrich Williams is the most likely and will take on the Lion’s share of the minutes left behind.

Davis Bertans has an interesting cork in his contract that allows the OKC Thunder to wiggle out of his massive deal so long as he plays in less than 75 percent of the team’s games this season. At that point, the OKC Thunder are only on the hook for 5 million dollars. That is a massive saving from the potential 16 million dollars he is owed if he passes that mark.

Leave it to the OKC Thunder to get creative with their roster, and one way for Sam Presti and Mark Daigneault to do that is front load the playing time for Bertans to align with Pokusevski’s miss time and follow it up with a wild string of DNP-CD’s later on in the year.

This would give the OKC Thunder another shooting threat, an area that needs constant improving in Bricktown, and Bertans has been around the block a time or two for whatever veteran wisdom he has to share with this young Thunder squad.

Ultimately, I think the rotation breaks down as such: 

• The Starting 5: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Josh Giddey, Lu Dort, Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren
• The Bench Unit: Vasilije Micic, Isaiah Joe, Aaron Wiggins, Kenrich Williams, Jaylin Williams
•  Swing players: Cason Wallace, Ousmane Dieng, Keyontae Johnson, and Davis Bertans

If Mark Daigneault has taught OKC Thunder fans anything, it is to not expect a typical rotation. It is part of what makes the Thunder bench boss so great; he is not stubborn and willing to adjust or try new things. It often leads to unlocking surprisingly effective lineups.