Aleksej Pokusevski (PF, OKC) - Week 14 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 14-Team Leagues

ROSTERED IN: 6% of leagues

ANALYSIS: The G-League Bubble was the perfect platform for some of the NBA's burgeoning stars to showcase their skill sets and potentially carve out a late-season role with their affiliated franchise, and Aleksej Pokusevski, the 7'0 Serbian teenager taken 17th overall in the 2021 Draft, was no exception. Pokusevski was able to set himself apart from other talented OKC Blue centers Moses Brown and Omer Yurtseven through his uniquely well-rounded game, averaging 7.9 points, 7.3 rebounds, 4.0 assists, and 1.1 block in 25.2 minutes per game, while also hitting 1.3 out of 4.8 three-point attempts each contest for a 27% success rate.

Pokusevski saw extremely limited PT through the first three months of the NBA campaign, but he has recently been the benefactor of something called necessity. Al Horford dealt with lingering injuries and has now been shut down, Darius Bazley remains sidelined with no clear timetable, and Mike Muscala has simply been underwhelming. This in turn opened the door for Moses Brown, Isaiah Roby, and now Pokusevski to enter the fold while being mentored by Horford, and all three have managed to thrive thanks to their distinct attributes.

In nine games of March, he's now playing 31.2 minutes per game, and in that time has produced 10.2 points, 6.9 boards, and 2.9 assists, while totaling twelve combined steals and blocks (four steals, eight blocks), hitting 13 of 45 threes (28.9%), and 15 of 16 free throws (93.8%). Oklahoma City did indeed bring in Tony Bradley at the deadline with Moses, Roby, Pokusevski, and still maybe Yurtseven to feed, but that is unlikely to derail the momentum of Pokusevski's phenomenal rookie campaign. With rates of 11.1% (REB), 11.4% (AST), 1.0% (STL), and 4.1% (BLK), the awkwardly-shaped big man has displayed a versatile range on the floor, and while his three-point/ball-handling tendencies will contribute to some negation via missed field goals and turnovers, the contributions across five categories should handily make Aleksej Pokusevski worth your while in deeper leagues, and hopefully he'll be center-eligible soon.

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