In addition to two-way players Josh Hall and Moses Brown, the Oklahoma City Thunder are sending rookie Aleksej Pokusevski and second-year guard Ty Jerome to the G League bubble to play with the OKC Blue, Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said Monday.
Pokusevski, the No. 17 pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, has been a rotation player for the Thunder this season and is averaging 17.4 minutes per game.
Jerome has been recovering from a left ankle sprain and will be going through a return-to-play plan with the Blue.
Daigneault said the team has been planning this for weeks and spoken with all four players about it.
“(Pokusevski) didn’t play Summer League, didn’t get a fall buildup, and those are really critical touchpoints,” Daigneault said. “It was kind of part of the plan from the beginning.”
Pokusevski is averaging 3.3 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.1 blocks per game over his 17 appearances for the Thunder. He’s shooting just 24.7% from the field and 17.9% from 3 and has yet to get to the free throw line.
Jerome has not appeared in a Thunder game this season and has been listed out with the ankle injury throughout the season.
Daigneault thinks the change can help the players develop as leaders as well as players.
“Changing circumstances, changing environments, allow players to have to navigate different things, play different roles, take on different social structures within the team,” he said.
“They’re going from a role where they’re following to a role to a role where they have to lead and that is tremendous value when you have to make that shift.”
Daigneault mentioned that the team also at one point considered sending Isaiah Roby and Theo Maledon as well, but elected to keep them at the NBA level.
The Thunder coaching staff will be watching the Blue games and texting Pokusevski and Jerome after the matchups to discuss performances and the development plan.
The Blue are already in the bubble, Daigneault said, and the four Thunder players departed for Orlando on Tuesday morning.
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