_(cropped).jpg) Pokuševski with Partizan in 2024 | |
| No. 11 – Partizan Mozzart Bet | |
|---|---|
| Position | Power forward /center |
| League | KLS ABA League EuroLeague |
| Personal information | |
| Born | (2001-12-26)26 December 2001 (age 23) |
| Nationality | Serbian |
| Listed height | 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) |
| Listed weight | 210 lb (95 kg) |
| Career information | |
| NBA draft | 2020: 1st round, 17th overall pick |
| Drafted by | Minnesota Timberwolves |
| Playing career | 2019–present |
| Career history | |
| 2019–2020 | Olympiacos |
| 2019–2020 | →Olympiacos B |
| 2020–2024 | Oklahoma City Thunder |
| 2020–2023 | →Oklahoma City Blue |
| 2024 | Charlotte Hornets |
| 2024 | →Greensboro Swarm |
| 2024–present | Partizan |
| Career highlights | |
| |
Stats at NBA.com  | |
| Stats atBasketball Reference | |
Aleksej Pokuševski (Serbian Cyrillic:Алексеј Покушевски; born 26 December 2001) is a Serbian professionalbasketball player and thevice-captain forPartizan Mozzart Bet of theBasketball League of Serbia (KLS), theABA League and theEuroLeague. Standing at 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) and weighing 210 pounds (95 kg), he plays at both thepower forward andcenter positions.
Born inBelgrade, Pokuševski was previously a youth player for the Greek club,Olympiacos. He debuted for their senior team in 2018, at age 17 and becoming the youngestEuroLeague player in club history. He was selected by theMinnesota Timberwolves with the 17th overall pick in the2020 NBA draft and traded to the Thunder.
Pokuševski grew up inNovi Sad, where he started to play youth basketball for local clubs, KK Kadet, KK NS Stars andVojvodina. In 2015, Pokuševski joined theyouth system ofOlympiacos. In 2017, he participated in theJordan Brand Classic camp. In August 2018, he attended theBasketball Without Borders Europe camp, inBelgrade, Serbia.[1] In February 2019, Pokuševski was invited for theNBA All-Star Basketball Without Borders Global Camp inCharlotte, North Carolina, but eventually missed the event after being rejected for aU.S. visa.[2]
On 19 March 2019, Pokuševski made hisEuroLeague debut withOlympiacos, in a 89–69 win over the German clubBayern Munich, during the EuroLeague's2018–19 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 replacedGeorgios 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 the2019–20 season, Pokuševski was assigned to play in theGreek A2 League, the country's second-tier league, with Olympiacos'reserve team,Olympiacos B. He initially played for the senior EuroLeague club'spractice squad. During the season, Pokuševski missed almost 3 months of playing time, due to aknee 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 theCOVID-19 pandemic in Europe.
On 24 April 2020, Pokuševski declared for the2020 NBA draft.[9] Pokuševski was under contract withOlympiacos through the end of the 2023–24 season. The contract'sbuyout clause for theNBA was €1 million if he was a top-20draft pick, or €1.5 million if he was a top-14lottery pick.[10][11] Following selection in the NBA draft, Pokuševski left Olympiacos on 24 November 2020.[12]
On November 18, 2020, Pokuševski was selected with the 17th overall pick in the2020 NBA draft by theMinnesota Timberwolves, becoming the youngest player selected that year.[13][14] Two days later, his draft rights were sent to theOklahoma City Thunder in a three-team trade[15] and on 9 December 2020, he signed with the Thunder,[16] becoming theyoungest active player in the NBA that season.[17] On 3 February 2021, Pokuševski received his first assignment at theOklahoma City Blue, the Thunder's affiliate team in theNBA G League[18] and on 14 March, he made his first NBA career start where he scored 23 points, including five 3-pointers, grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds and dished out 4 assists in a 128–122 win over theMemphis Grizzlies, becoming the third Thunder rookie (followingRussell Westbrook andDarius 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 onlyLeBron James in 2004.[19][20]
On April 3, 2022, Pokuševski recorded his first NBAtriple-double with 17 points, 10 rebounds, and 12 assists in a 117–96 win over thePhoenix Suns,[21][22][23] becoming the seventh Thunder and the 12th-youngest player in NBA history (afterMagic Johnson) to achieve a triple-double.[24]
In July 2022, Pokuševski joined the Thunder for the2022 NBA Summer League.[25] On November 22, Pokuševski scored 16 points and grabbed 14 rebounds during a 126–122 loss to theBoston Celtics.[26] From December 2022 to March 2023, Pokuševski was unable to play due to a non-displaced tibial plateau fracture in his left leg.[27]
On 23 February 2024, Pokuševski was waived by the Thunder.[28]
On 28 February 2024, Pokuševski signed with theCharlotte Hornets.[29] On 6 July, he was waived by Charlotte.[30]
On 20 August 2024, Pokuševski signed withPartizan Mozzart Bet of theABA League,Basketball League of Serbia (KLS) and theEuroLeague.[31][32] In his debut season with Partizan, Pokuševski averaged 3.9 points and 2.2 rebounds over 27 EuroLeague games. During the 2024–25 season, Partizan managed to lift the record eighthABA League championship, and theSerbian League championship, the first one after 11 seasons.
Pokuševski was a member of theSerbian national under-17 team that competed at the2018 FIBA Under-17 World Cup, inArgentina. Over seven tournament games, he averaged 7.7 points, 8.3 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 3.0 blocks per game.[33]
Pokuševski was a member of theSerbian national under-18 team that competed at the2019 FIBA Under-18 European Championship, inVolos, 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.[34]
Initially at the preliminarySerbia roster forEuroBasket 2022, Pokuševski was cut from the squad due to disapproval of the Thunder.[35][36]
| 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 |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG | PIR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018–19 | Olympiacos | 2 | 0 | 2.9 | .000 | .000 | .500 | 1.0 | .5 | .5 | .0 | .5 | .0 |
| 2019–20 | 1 | 0 | 1.8 | .000 | — | — | .0 | .0 | .0 | .0 | .0 | -2.0 | |
| 2024–25 | Partizan | 27 | 7 | 12.8 | .455 | .295 | .692 | 2.2 | 1.2 | .6 | 1.0 | 3.9 | 4.7 |
| Career | 30 | 7 | 11.8 | .436 | .289 | .667 | 2.0 | 1.1 | .6 | .9 | 3.5 | 4.2 | |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020–21 | Oklahoma City | 45 | 28 | 24.2 | .341 | .280 | .738 | 4.7 | 2.2 | .4 | .9 | 8.2 |
| 2021–22 | Oklahoma City | 61 | 12 | 20.2 | .408 | .289 | .700 | 5.2 | 2.1 | .6 | .6 | 7.6 |
| 2022–23 | Oklahoma City | 34 | 25 | 20.6 | .434 | .365 | .629 | 4.7 | 1.9 | .6 | 1.3 | 8.1 |
| 2023–24 | Oklahoma City | 10 | 0 | 6.0 | .250 | .182 | .500 | 1.0 | .5 | .1 | .1 | 1.2 |
| Charlotte | 18 | 0 | 19.2 | .429 | .364 | .757 | 4.4 | 1.7 | .8 | .7 | 7.4 | |
| Career | 168 | 65 | 20.4 | .391 | .304 | .702 | 4.6 | 1.9 | .6 | .8 | 7.5 | |
Pokuševski's family originates fromPriština. Due to theKosovo War in 1999, his family escaped toPodgorica (nowadays inMontenegro), and moved toBelgrade,Serbia, afterwards, where Pokuševski was born in 2001. Thereafter, Pokuševski and his family permanently moved toNovi Sad.[37] Pokuševki's ancestors hail fromGalicia, present-day Ukraine.[38]
After signing a youth team contract with the Greek basketball clubOlympiacos, Pokuševski moved to Greece in 2015, 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.[39] He was eligible to represent either Serbia or Greece in national team competitions, and he chose to representSerbia.[40] His father Saša Pokuševski,[41] is a former professional basketball player and acoach. His father played basketball withKK Priština, and coachedKK Novi Sad.