The Oklahoma City Thunder announced on Tuesday that they have assigned Aleksej Pokusevski, Theo Maledon and Isaiah Roby to their G League affiliate — the Oklahoma City Blue.
The most surprising name of the bunch is Pokusevski, who has spent the entire season with the Thunder and was viewed by fans as one of the team’s top developmental priorities heading into the season. But so far, Pokusevski has looked like the same player as last season where there is a lot of bad play covered by a few glimmers of his potential.
This should not be surprising for fans though. Many knew the 19-year-old would be a long-term project that would take several seasons to develop if he were ever to hit his ceiling. Expecting Pokusevski to take a big jump one calendar year into his NBA career is unrealistic.
With that said, Pokusevski’s sophomore struggles should not be shrugged off. In 26 games this season, Pokusevski has averaged 4.5 points and 4.3 rebounds while shooting 33.8 percent from the field and 20.0 percent from three. Maybe a trip to the Blue will help him refocus and sharpen his skills like it did last season in the G League Bubble — where his play was substantially more polished after the Bubble compared to before.
Pokusevski’s stay with the Blue — along with Maledon and Roby — is expected to be a short one as Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said today that all three will play for the Blue during Wednesday’s 12 p.m. CT game and be active for the Thunder’s 7 p.m. CT game later that day.
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