FEBRUARY 28: The Hornets have officially signed Pokusevski, the team announced today in a press release. Charlotte terminated Bolden’s 10-day contract early in order to open up a roster spot (Twitter link).
FEBRUARY 27: The Hornets are expected to sign forward Aleksej Pokusevski, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). Pokusevski became a free agent after being cut by the Thunder last Friday and clearing waivers on Sunday.
The No. 17 overall pick in the 2020 draft, Pokusevski showed plenty of promise in his first three-and-a-half NBA seasons in Oklahoma City, but his development was hindered by health issues. He was limited to just 34 games (25 starts) in 2022/23 due largely to a leg fracture that sidelined him for about three months, then broke his arm during a workout in the spring of 2023 and sprained his ankle this past September.
Pokusevski got off to a strong start in ’22/23, averaging 8.1 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks in 20.6 minutes per game across his 34 appearances, with career-best shooting rates of 43.4% from the field and 36.5% from the three-point line. But those injuries ended the seven-footer’s season early and he only saw garbage-time action in 10 games this season for the Thunder, logging 60 total minutes.
While Pokusevski theoretically could’ve been included in the trade that sent Gordon Hayward to Oklahoma City earlier this month, the Hornets instead acquired Tre Mann, Vasilije Micic, and Davis Bertans in that deal. The Thunder subsequently waived the 22-year-old, who was on an expiring $5MM contract and was no longer part of their future plans.
Now the Hornets are in position to add Pokusevski at a lower cost, though the exact details of his new deal have yet to be reported, so it’s unclear if he’ll earn more than the minimum or if the team will get any control beyond this season.
Charlotte currently has a full 15-man standard roster. However, one of the team’s 15 players – Marques Bolden – is on a 10-day contract that will expire this Thursday night. Pokusevski figures to take Bolden’s roster spot, either after that 10-day deal expires or perhaps earlier, if the Hornets terminate it before the 10-day mark.
Despite a recent hot streak, the Hornets remain well out of the Eastern Conference play-in picture at 15-42, so they’ll be able to use the final month-and-a-half of the season to get a look at Pokusevski in relatively low-stakes games.
Always liked Poku. If he can remain healthy and approximate his 22-23 value, he’ll be a solid upgrade for the young Hornets.
Wish Knicks would of got him.
Needs to add girth and strength. I still see potential, get healthy.
Boy, teams with lots of recent high draft choices end up with too much talent.
That’s kinda how it should work.
What a steal for CHA!
Exactly. String Bean is a hard core player. The fans are going to love him big time.
A definite steal.
Aw come on. A scrub team to sign him?
60d d4m-n akme….bulls need him,not that funky guard
The Bulls should have signed him.
He is not good, but maybe he gets some more time. OKC played him before they got better players like Jalen, Chet, Joe, etc.
He actually is good, he just hasn’t been able to stay on the court consistently enough to prove it.
Would have loved to have seen a Poku/Wemby front court in SA. Hope the kid can get healthy, always hate to see a guy’s career be ruined by injuries.
It’s called developing talent. Part of that is waiting for them to grow into their manhood. No 19 yr old is ready for mins. That’s why he’s been getting hurt. Needs to add weight and strength. Then you can judge him after he’s 25-26 yrs old. Perfect example of a kid who should off been in G-league for two yrs.
I don’t like good/not good categorization for waived players. However, I agree Poku’s game has a long way to go. Strengths: passing, length, confidence (this guy is uniquely confident even by NBA standards) Weaknesses: shooting (at a mechanical level), consistency (he does odd things on court – a shaqting a fool regular – less crazy than his rookie year but still odd for nba level), strength, health.
He is only 22 so still young enough to develop but needs a lot of tick before he gets there. If you are Charlotte, ,why not **** around and find out with Poku. He will be entertaining if nothing else. If I were to bet on this though, my guess is he would be a better fit in lower league in Europe or Asia. I hope he makes it but can’t say I am sad to see him depart the Thunder .
Man why the Hornets…?
That’s just cruel… If he was gonna go to a rebuilding team should of gone to the Spurs… That would of been fun…
Hornets… Well I guess he can at least get playing time…
Good pick for the Hornets, last year Orlando picked Goga Bitadze and so far so good for the Magic, I think Poku is way better offensive player than people think. Kudos to Charlotte