Serbian basketball player (born 2001)
Aleksej Pokuševski (Serbian Cyrillic: Алексеј
Покушевски; born 26 December 2001) is a Serbian professional basketball player🤑 for the
Oklahoma City Thunder of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Standing at 7 ft 0
in (2.13 m) and🤑 weighing 210 pounds (95 kg), he plays both forward positions.
Born in
Belgrade, Pokuševski was previously a youth player for the🤑 Greek club, Olympiacos. He
debuted for their senior team in 2024, at age 17 and becoming the youngest EuroLeague
player🤑 in club history. He was selected by the Minnesota Timberwolves with the 17th
overall pick in the 2024 NBA draft🤑 and traded to the Thunder.
Early career [ edit
]
Pokuševski grew up in Novi Sad, where he started to play youth🤑 basketball for local
clubs, KK Kadet, KK NS Stars and Vojvodina. In 2024, Pokuševski joined the youth system
of Olympiacos.🤑 In 2024, he participated in the Jordan Brand Classic camp. In August
2024, he attended the Basketball Without Borders Europe🤑 camp, in Belgrade, Serbia.[1]
In February 2024, Pokuševski was invited for the NBA All-Star Basketball Without
Borders Global Camp in🤑 Charlotte, North Carolina, but eventually missed the event after
being rejected for a U.S. visa.[2]
Professional career [ edit ]
Olympiacos (2024–2024)
🤑 [ edit ]
On 19 March 2024, Pokuševski made his EuroLeague debut with Olympiacos, in a
89–69 win over the German🤑 club Bayern Munich, during the EuroLeague's 2024–19 season.
He recorded 1 point, 2 rebounds and 1 assist, in one minute🤑 played during the game.[3]
Pokuševski became the youngest senior men's Olympiacos player to ever debut in the
EuroLeague. At 17🤑 years and 83 days old, he replaced Georgios Printezis, who had
previously debuted in the EuroLeague, at the age of🤑 17 years and 229 days, as the
club's youngest-ever EuroLeague player.[4]
For the 2024–20 season, Pokuševski was
assigned to play in🤑 the Greek A2 League, the country's second-tier league, with
Olympiacos' reserve team, Olympiacos B. He initially played for the senior🤑 EuroLeague
club's practice squad. During the season, Pokuševski missed almost 3 months of playing
time, due to a knee injury.[5][6]
Pokuševski🤑 started in eight of his 11 appearances in
the Greek A2, averaging 10.8 points, 7.9 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 1.3 steals🤑 and 1.8
blocks in 23.1 minutes per game. He shot 40.4 percent from the field, 32.1 percent from
three-point range,🤑 and 78.3 percent from the free-throw line.[7] In the middle of the
season, Olympiacos' main EuroLeague team was riddled with🤑 injuries, and Pokuševski was
called up to the senior team. He played two minutes in his only EuroLeague game of🤑 the
season,[8] before the league's season was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic in
Europe.
On 24 April 2024, Pokuševski declared🤑 for the 2024 NBA draft.[9] Pokuševski's
Olympiacos contract lasts through the end of the 2024–24 season. The contract's buyout
clause🤑 for the NBA is €1 million, if he is a top-20 draft pick, or €1.5 million, if he
is a🤑 top-14 lottery pick.[10][11] Following selection in the NBA draft, Pokuševski left
Olympiacos on 24 November 2024.[12]
Oklahoma City Thunder (2024–present) [🤑 edit
]
Pokuševski was selected with the 17th overall pick in the 2024 NBA draft by the
Minnesota Timberwolves, becoming the🤑 youngest player selected in the draft.[13][14] Two
days after the draft in November 2024, his draft rights were traded to🤑 the Oklahoma
City Thunder in a three-team trade.[15] On December 9, 2024, Pokuševski signed with the
Thunder.[16] On 3 February🤑 2024, Pokuševski received his first assignment at Oklahoma
City Blue, the affiliate team of Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA🤑 G League.[17] In his
rookie season, he was the youngest active player in the NBA.[18] On 14 March,
Pokuševski made🤑 his first NBA career start. He scored 23 points which includes five
3-pointers, grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds and dished🤑 out 4 assists in a 128–122 win
over the Memphis Grizzlies, becoming the third Thunder rookie (following Russell
Westbrook and🤑 Darius Bazley) to post a 20–10 double-double. At 19 years and 78 days
old, he became the youngest player in🤑 franchise history to score 20-plus points while
also setting the record for being the youngest player in league history with🤑 20-plus
points, 10-plus rebounds and 5-plus three-pointers made in a game. Pokuševski also
became the second-youngest player in NBA history🤑 to make five three-pointers in a game
behind only LeBron James in 2004.[19][20]
On April 3, 2024, Pokuševski recorded his
first🤑 NBA triple-double with 17 points, 10 rebounds, and 12 assists in a 117–96 win
over the Phoenix Suns,[21][22][23] becoming the🤑 seventh Thunder and the 12th-youngest
player in NBA history (after Magic Johnson) to achieve a triple-double.[24]
In July
2024, Pokuševski joined🤑 the Thunder for the 2024 NBA Summer League.[25] On November 22,
Pokuševski scored 16 points and grabbed 14 rebounds during🤑 a 126–122 loss to the Boston
Celtics.[26] From December 2024 to March 2024, Pokuševski was unable to play due to🤑 a
non-displaced tibial plateau fracture in his left leg.[27]
National team career [ edit
]
Pokuševski was a member of the Serbian🤑 national under-17 team that competed at the
2024 FIBA Under-17 World Cup, in Argentina. Over seven tournament games, he averaged
🤑 7.7 points, 8.3 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 3.0 blocks per game.[28]
Pokuševski was a
member of the Serbian national under-18 team🤑 that competed at the 2024 FIBA Under-18
European Championship, in Volos, Greece. Over seven tournament games, he averaged 10.0
points,🤑 7.2 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 2.7 steals and 4.0 blocks per game.[29]
Initially at
the preliminary Serbia roster for EuroBasket 2024, Pokuševski🤑 was cut from the squad
due to disapproval of the Thunder.[30][31]
Career statistics [ edit ]
Legend GP Games
played GS Games🤑 started MPG Minutes per game FG% Field-goal percentage 3P% 3-point
field-goal percentage FT% Free-throw percentage RPG Rebounds per game APG🤑 Assists per
game SPG Steals per game BPG Blocks per game PPG Points per game PIR Performance Index
Rating Bold🤑 Career high
NBA [ edit ]
Regular season [ edit ]
Year Team GP GS MPG FG%
3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG🤑 PPG 2024–21 Oklahoma City 45 28 24.2 .341 .280 .738 4.7 2.2 .4
.9 8.2 2024–22 Oklahoma City 61 12🤑 20.2 .408 .289 .700 5.2 2.1 .6 .6 7.6 2024–23
Oklahoma City 34 25 20.6 .434 .365 .629 4.7 1.9🤑 .6 1.3 8.1 Career 140 65 21.6 .389 .301
.693 4.9 2.1 .6 .9 7.9
EuroLeague [ edit ]
Year Team 2024–19🤑 Olympiacos 2 0 2.9 .000
.000 .500 1.0 .5 .5 .0 .5 .0 2024–20 1 0 2 .000 — —🤑 .0 .0 .0 .0 .0 -2.0 Career[32] 3 0
2.7 .000 .000 .500 .7 .3 .3 .0 .3 -0.7
Personal life🤑 [ edit ]
Pokuševski's family
originates from Pristina. Due to the Kosovo War in 1999, his family escaped to
Podgorica (nowadays🤑 in Montenegro), and moved to Belgrade, Serbia, afterwards, where
Pokuševski was born in 2001. Thereafter, Pokuševski and his family permanently🤑 moved to
Novi Sad.[33] Pokuševki's family hails from Galicia, present-day Ukraine.[34]
After
signing a youth team contract with the Greek basketball🤑 club Olympiacos, Pokuševski
moved to Greece in 2024, at the age of 13. While playing in Greek competitions, he
counts🤑 as a native Greek domestic player, since he started competing in Greek
competitions before the age of 14.[35] He was🤑 eligible to represent either Serbia or
Greece in national team competitions, and he chose to represent Serbia.[36] His father
Saša🤑 Pokuševski,[37] is a former professional basketball player and a coach. His father
played basketball with KK Priština, and coached KK🤑 Novi Sad.
Pokuševski is a fan of
Partizan.[38]
See also [ edit ]
