The Charlotte Hornets are continuing in their quest to slowly swap franchises with the Oklahoma City Thunder by reportedly signing Aleksej Pokuševski, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
The Charlotte Hornets are expected to sign F Aleksej Pokusevski, sources tell ESPN. The Oklahoma City Thunder waived him this week. Pokusevski was the 17th overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 27, 2024
Pokuševski, who will henceforth be referred to as Poku, was waived by the Thunder a few days ago as part of their roster preparation for the playoff push (they signed former Hornets great Bismack Biyombo a few days prior). He had only appeared in 10 games of mop up duty this season.
Poku is in that Bol Bol class of players that have absurd measurements and have highlight tapes that look like superstars. Then you zoom out and look at their overall production on a macro level and see that they’re actually not that good.
In his first three seasons, Poku averaged 7.9 points and 4.9 rebounds across 21.6 minutes per game with 38.9/30.1/69.3 shooting splits. He improved the field goal percentage and 3-point percentage to 43.4% and 36.5% respectively last season, but those numbers probably aren’t where they need to be for his play style. He can be rather reckless with his shot selection and ball handling, but maybe that can be translated into confidence with the right direction.
The Hornets already have 15 players on the roster, so someone is going to have to get the boot to make room for Poku. The most likely bet is Marques Bolden, whose 10 day contract is set to expire in a couple of days.
