In the CBS Sports mock draft released Monday, analyst Kyle Boone had the Oklahoma City Thunder take a player with one of the highest ceilings but lowest floors of potential first-round picks in the 2020 class.
With pick No. 25, the Thunder selected center Aleksej Pokusevski, who played for Olympiacos B in Greece.
Boone wrote:
“Aleksej Pokusevski is one of this draft’s biggest boom-or-bust talents because of the way he can move, score, dribble and create at his size. If he busts it’s a late-first wasted, but if he booms he can develop into a franchise-caliber center.”
The Serbian, listed at seven feet tall and 205 pounds, is somewhat of a unicorn. Nikola Jokic and Bam Adebayo have shown that the next evolution of centers is a player who can pass, and Pokusevski certainly does that well.
Aleksej Pokusevski is a fascinating passer for an 18-year-old 7-footer. Quick decisions from the post, cross-court feeds off a live dribble and over-the-top reads.
Really impressive stuff: pic.twitter.com/tGwnAh0NBf
— Jackson Frank (@jackfrank_jjf) June 19, 2020
Last season, he averaged 11 points, eight rebounds, three assists, 1.8 blocks and 1.3 steals in just 23 minutes per game.
Pokusevski needs to fill out his body and gain strength while improving his shooting percentage from inside the arc.
Coming from a weak league, Pokusevski has only played three games of EuroLeague and struggled there. He will not be an instant-impact player and would be a good draft-and-stash candidate.
But as Boone writes, the Thunder have enough picks in the near future that they can “take a big swing.”
Boone said a scout told him: “The skill, the ability and the size he provides projects to him becoming in time a potentially significant contributor down the road.
“He’s not ready. But my gosh, he’s a roster development type of guy that I know teams will have higher than what people think.”
With the Thunder, who have proven to have a good player development program, could Pokusevski hit his peak?
Boone thinks it’s worth taking the chance on in this year’s draft.
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