Thunder rookie big man Aleksej Pokusevski has averaged 17.4 minutes per game in 17 appearances but he’s headed to Orlando to join the G League’s Oklahoma City Blue, according to Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman. The 17th overall pick, who played 20 minutes in a blowout loss to Houston on Monday, is shooting just 24.7% from the field and the team wants him to develop his offensive game.
Guard Ty Jerome and two-way players Moses Brown and Josh Hall are also going to Orlando. “A lot of time and effort has gone into deciding who to send and when to send them,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said. “We felt like sending the four of them together, all for different reasons developmentally, was the best decision.”
We have more G League transactions from Western Conference clubs:
- The Clippers assigned rookie big man Daniel Oturu to the Agua Caliente Clippers, according the RealGM transactions log. Oturu has appeared in 10 NBA games this season but has only averaged 4.2 MPG. He’s only gotten on the court once since January 22 and the organization wants Oturu to get some extended playing time during the bubble season in Orlando.
- The Pelicans have transferred two-way player Will Magnay to the Erie BayHawks, the Pelicans’ PR department tweets. The 22-year-old rookie power forward out of Tulsa, who played in Australia last season, has not appeared in a game this season.
- The Jazz duo of rookie center Udoka Azubuike and Trent Forrest are joining the Salt Lake City Stars, the G League team tweets. Azubuike, the team’s first-round pick out of Kansas, has made 12 limited appearances this season. Forrest, an undrafted guard out of Florida State, has played in two NBA games.
Pokusevski, Oturu, Azubuike will all be playing innNBA one day. All got talent to be solid bigs, at worst bench guys. Pokusevski is young and has to grow his body. He’s got a chance to be special. Good move sending them all to G-league
The Thunder have too many young players that need to play. Never thought I’d say a team had too much of anything, but these young cats need some playing time to develop.
Pokusevski is for real dude. He should have been left in Euro league for 2-3 yrs. To grow into his body and develop more. He shouldn’t be sitting on bench in NBA. Bringing guys up too soon can hurt their growth and confidence. Our bodies don’t mature till after 21 (most of us). Think of MLB and why they have a minor league system.
Udoka Azubuike and Trent Forrest are likely being sent down together so they can better their chemistry. Trent can drive and dish really well. Perfecting their pocket pass exchange can only help everyone. Should be fun to see them play on the Stars team together with the other Stars players I’m excited about.