Aleksej Pokusevski Rumors

International Notes: McGruder, Pokusevski, Abu Dhabi, International Stars, Korkmaz

October 5th, 2024 at 11:39am CST by Tristan Tucker

Former NBA guard Rodney McGruder has signed with Italian club Reyer Venezia, according to a release from the team (hat tip to Sportando).

McGruder appeared in 317 games (132 starts) from 2016-23, registering career averages of 5.8 points and 2.8 rebounds per contest. He played most extensively for the Heat during that time, making 112 of his starts in a Miami uniform. In his first season in the league, McGruder finished in eighth in Rookie of the Year voting after starting in 65 of the Heat’s games. He dealt with an injury the following year but opened the 2018/19 season as a full-time starter for Miami, averaging over 10 PPG and shooting just under 40.0% on three-pointers through the New Year.

However, McGruder fell out of the rotation that year and was eventually cut at the end of the season as it became clear the Heat wouldn’t make the postseason. He was waived in order to make room for back-end roster shuffling moves, including the conversion of Duncan Robinson from a two-way deal to a standard contract.

McGruder then played for the Clippers for one season before spending the subsequent three years of his career with the Pistons. Detroit appreciated him as a veteran leader, but opted not to re-sign him in 2023. He landed on an Exhibit 10 deal with the Warriors last offseason but didn’t ultimately make the team. McGruder then played for Olimpia Milano in Italy last season.

We have more international notes:

Former first-rounder Aleksej Pokusevski returned to Europe this offseason, signing with Partizan Belgrade after spending four seasons in the NBA with the Thunder and Hornets. According to Eurohoops, he’s open to an NBA return in the future but is thankful to be with a club that’s helping him develop further. “I think I’ve already gotten better, and that was one of the main reasons I came here,” Pokusevski said. “Overall, we’ve gotten better as a team, we’ve grown closer, and I think it’s going to be a good season for us.” He averaged 7.5 points and 4.6 rebounds in 168 career games (65 starts).
Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, Abu Dhabi’s chairman of Department of Culture and Tourism, has been a driving force of the NBA’s high-profile preseason games in United Arab Emirates, Brian Windhorst of ESPN writes. The league is deepening its relationship with the Middle East, which is continuing to be a more viable business partner for the NBA, Windhorst explains in a piece highlighting the growing relationship between the two sides.
Luka Doncic, Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo have requested to NBA commissioner Adam Silver that the NBA host games in their respective home countries of Slovenia, Serbia and Greece, according to Sportando. “It’s a difficult task because hosting these games requires an incredible amount of resources and, frankly, it doesn’t make financial sense as a one-off event,” Silver said, per Sportando. “It works in places like Mexico City, Paris or here in Abu Dhabi because it is part of a long-term initiative. I really appreciate the enthusiasm of the fans in Serbia, Slovenia and Greece, as well as the efforts of players like Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Doncic to bring NBA games to their countries. But it is not easy to organize. We will continue to explore this possibility, even though the cost of organizing these events increases every year. I want to find a way to honor these great players”
After signing with AS Monaco this offseason, Furkan Korkmaz suffered a leg injury, according to BasketNews. He’s expected to miss multiple weeks as a result of the ailment.

Partizan Belgrade Confirms Additions Of Pokusevski, Other Former NBAers

August 19th, 2024 at 2:41pm CST by Luke Adams

The Serbian club KK Partizan, which is based in Belgrade and competes in the EuroLeague, held an event on Monday to formally introduce its roster for the 2024/25 season, according to Eurohoops.

Partizan’s squad features several players with NBA experience, including guards Frank Ntilikina and Gabriel Lundberg, whose deals were previously announced.

On Monday, the team also confirmed several signings which had been reported earlier in the summer but hadn’t yet been officially confirmed, such as Aleksej Pokusevski, Sterling Brown, Isaac Bonga, Duane Washington, and Brandon Davies.

Pokusevksi is perhaps the most notable name in the group. The 22-year-old forward was the 17th overall pick in the 2020 NBA draft and spent most of the past four seasons with the Thunder before being waived in February. He finished the season in Charlotte, averaging 7.4 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 1.7 assists in 19.2 minutes per game across 18 outings down the stretch for the Hornets.

Brown has 268 NBA regular season appearances under his belt, while Bonga has 143, Washington has 79, and Davies has 78. However, none of the four played in the league in 2023/24.

As Eurohoops notes, former NBA guard Carlik Jones will also play for KK Partizan this season, but wasn’t at Monday’s event — his flight was delayed, according to a report from Mozzart Sport, which indicates that Jones will be at the team’s first practice of the season this week.

Former NBA first-rounder Bruno Caboclo is also under contract with Partizan, but wasn’t in attendance on Monday and isn’t a lock to return to the club. He has reportedly received an offer from Hapoel Tel Aviv, a team in Israel.

International Rumor Round-Up: Jones, Pokusevski, S. Lee, More

August 14th, 2024 at 2:30pm CST by Luke Adams

While we don’t cover international basketball comprehensively at Hoops Rumors, items involving current or former NBA players – or future NBA prospects – are always of interest to us, so we’ve been keeping an eye on the European, Asian, and Australian rumor mills this offseason as we monitor where NBA free agents are landing.

Generally, we wait until a team officially announces a signing to write up a story on it, since some international outlets are more reliable than others, and specific details in a non-English report can sometimes be lost in translation.

However, we wanted to pass along some updates today on possible deals involving some NBA veterans that have yet to be formally announced. Let’s dive in…

Damian Jones

A veteran NBA center with nearly 300 total games and a couple championships under his belt, Jones spent last season with the Cavaliers. The 29-year-old played sparingly in Cleveland, averaging 2.7 points and 1.6 rebounds in 6.9 minutes per contest across 39 appearances off the bench.

After rumors surfaced about a month into the NBA’s free agent period that Turkish club Fenerbahce may be interested in Jones, Emiliano Carchia of Sportando reported that the big man was actually signing with the Zhejiang Golden Bulls in the Chinese Basketball Association.

This story was a tricky one, since Carchia deleted his tweet reporting the deal after Sportando published a story about it. Zhejiang also doesn’t appear to maintain an up-to-date website or social media presence outside of China, so we couldn’t just wait for a formal announcement.

We reached out to Jones’ representatives at CAA Sports and to Carchia to seek clarity on his situation, and while the center’s agency didn’t respond, Carchia told Hoops Rumors that his reporting hasn’t changed despite the deleted tweet. As such, we’re assuming for now that Jones is headed to China for the 2024/25 season.

Aleksej Pokusevski

Pokusevski, a lanky Serbian forward, is a former first-round pick who showed flashes of real promise during his rookie contract. However, injuries derailed his development and he slid down the Thunder’s depth chart in the past year or two as Oklahoma City continued to add more young talent. He signed with the Hornets in February after being waived by OKC, but was later cut by Charlotte too in July, making him an unrestricted free agent.

A report from Christos Tsaltas of Sportal.gr (Twitter link) in mid-July indicated that Pokusevski was close to reaching a deal to join KK Partizan, a Serbian team based in Belgrade. The international outlet Sport Klub followed up earlier this week by reporting that the two sides had reached an agreement (hat tip to Eurohoops), while TeleSport suggested that the 22-year-old is signing a three-year deal (hat tip to Sportando).

Based on the sheer number of separate outlets reporting this deal, we trust that the info is accurate, but with Partizan set to fully reveal its 2024/25 roster on August 19 (Twitter link), we’ll likely wait until they make it official next Monday to write up a full story on it.

Saben Lee

Lee, 25, finished each of the past two seasons on a two-way contract with the Suns, appearing in 24 games for Phoenix last season. However, the 6’2″ guard now has four years of NBA service, making him ineligible for another two-way, which may have been a factor in his inability to find an NBA deal he liked this offseason.

Tolis Kotzias of SDNA.gr (Twitter link) reported in early August that Lee was close to signing with Manisa Buyuksehir Belediyespor, a Turkish team.

It still seems as if that’s the plan for Lee — there have been no reports since then suggesting otherwise. But Manisa hasn’t mentioned Lee at all on its website, Twitter, or Instagram, so our assumption for now is that the deal isn’t yet official.

Usman Garuba

A former first-round pick who spent a couple seasons in Houston, Garuba spent most of the 2023/24 season on a two-way deal with Golden State. He only appeared in six games for the Warriors, but was converted to a standard contract at the end of the season because the team had an open roster spot to fill. It was just a rest-of-season deal, so he became an unrestricted free agent on July 1.

Reporting all the way back in May stated that Garuba was expected to sign with Real Madrid in Spain this offseason, but he responded by saying he had yet to make a decision. In mid-July, Spanish reporter Carlos Sanchez Blas (Twitter links) said that Garuba had a long-term deal in place with Madrid, and this time the big man didn’t deny it.

However, even as they’ve announced other roster moves – including the signing of Serge Ibaka – Real Madrid hasn’t confirmed the signing of Garuba on its website or social media. This is another one we expect to happen sooner or later, but we’ve been waiting on formal word from the club.

Rudy Gay

A 17-year NBA veteran, Gay hasn’t been in the league since being waived by the Warriors last October and will turn 38 years old this Saturday. Still, the 6’8″ forward doesn’t appear prepared to call it a career.

Just a few days into the NBA’s July free agent period, Kotzias of SDNA (Twitter link) reported that Gay was on track to sign with the Greek team Peristeri BC, barring an unexpected development. But subsequent reporting from Spanish outlet Piratas Del Basket (hat tip to TrendBasket) indicated that Gay was actually in advanced talks with Leyma Basquet Coruna in Spain.

It doesn’t appear Gay finalized an agreement with either team, since Orazio Cauchi of BasketNews tweeted in early August that the veteran was also drawing interest from Italian club Pistoia Basket.

Our working assumption is that Gay doesn’t have a deal in place with any team in Europe yet, though it certainly sounds like that could change before the 2024/25 season tips off.

Serbia, Greece Set 12-Man Rosters For Olympics

July 23rd, 2024 at 9:10am CST by Luke Adams

Two more nations have set their 12-man rosters for the upcoming Olympic games in Paris, with Serbia and Greece both officially announcing their squads (Twitter links).

The Serbian roster is headlined by three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic and includes a few more NBA players beyond the Nuggets center. Hawks guard Bogdan Bogdanovic, Hornets guard Vasilije Micic, and Heat forward Nikola Jovic will also represent Serbia in Paris.

Jovic’s inclusion is particularly notable, since there was some uncertainty earlier this month about whether he’d be healthy enough to play. He injured his ankle during an offseason workout in Miami in June, but has apparently received medical clearance for the Olympics.

Nikola Milutinov, Ognjen Dobric, Vanja Marinkovic, Marko Guduric, Filip Petrusev, Aleksa Avramovic, Dejan Davidovac, and Uros Plavsic round out Serbia’s roster. Former NBA first-round pick Aleksej Pokusevski, who finished last season with the Hornets, isn’t among the final 12.

Meanwhile, Greece has also confirmed its Olympic roster, which will be led by another former NBA MVP, Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo. Giannis is the only Antetokounmpo suiting up for Greece in France at this year’s event, since his brothers Thanasis Antetokounmpo and Kostas Antetokounmpo are both dealing with injuries.

While Giannis is the only active NBA player on the Greek roster, a few others have previously played in the league, including Nick Calathes, Georgios Papagiannis, and Kostas Papanikolaou. Former Stephen F. Austin standout Thomas Walkup also signed an NBA contract back in 2016, though he never appeared in a regular season game.

Dinos Mitoglou, Giannoulis Larentzakis, Vassilis Charalampopoulos, Nikos Chougkaz, Dimitris Moraitis, Panagiotis Kalaitzakis, and Vassilis Toliopoulos make up the rest of Greece’s roster.

Serbia’s first pool-play game of the Olympics will take place on Sunday vs. Team USA, while Greece’s Olympic schedule will tip off a day earlier, with a Saturday showdown vs. Canada.

Hornets Cut Aleksej Pokusevski, Bryce McGowens

July 6th, 2024 at 3:34pm CST by Luke Adams

3:34pm: Pokusevski and McGowens have officially been waived, according to a release from the Hornets.

2:40pm: The Hornets will create some additional salary cap flexibility by waiving two more players on non-guaranteed contracts. The team is cutting forward Aleksej Pokusevski, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link), as well as wing Bryce McGowens, per Rod Boone of The Charlotte Observer (Twitter link).

The 17th pick in the 2020 draft, Pokusevski spent three-and-a-half seasons in Oklahoma City before being waived by the Thunder in February. He caught on with the Hornets a few days later and played a regular role off the bench in Charlotte down the stretch, averaging 7.4 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 1.7 assists in 19.2 minutes per game across 18 appearances.

McGowens, meanwhile, has played in Charlotte for the past two seasons after being drafted 40th overall in 2022. The 21-year-old appeared in 59 NBA games last season, averaging 5.1 PPG, 1.7 RPG, and 0.9 APG with a .439/.333/.776 shooting line in 14.9 MPG.

Both Pokusevski ($2.27MM) and McGowens ($2.02MM) were on non-guaranteed minimum salary contracts. Cutting them is necessary to accommodate a series of moves the Hornets are completing using cap room, including trading for Devonte’ Graham, Josh Green, and Reggie Jackson. The club is also waiving Davis Bertans, whose salary is only partially guaranteed.

If Pokusevski and McGowens don’t catch on with another team right away and there’s mutual interest in a return to the Hornets, there would be no rule stopping Charlotte from re-signing them on new minimum deals. But it’s unclear whether or not that’s the plan for either player.

Nikola Jokic Included On Serbia’s Preliminary Olympic Roster

June 10th, 2024 at 3:52pm CST by Luke Adams

The Serbian national team has officially unveiled its preliminary roster for the 2024 Olympics, and that group is headlined by a noteworthy name. Nuggets center Nikola Jokic is one of the 16 players on Serbia’s preliminary roster, which will be cut down to 12 players for this summer’s games in Paris.

Jokic was noncommittal when asked last month at the end of Denver’s season whether he intended to play for Serbia in the Olympics. Svetislav Pesic, the head coach of the national team, recently stated that the Nuggets star remained undecided. Jokic’s inclusion on the 16-man preliminary roster doesn’t guarantee he’ll be in Paris, but it’s a signal that he’s planning to participate.

Even without Jokic, the Serbians claimed a silver medal at the 2023 FIBA World Cup, falling to Germany in the final but qualifying for the Olympics based on that deep World Cup run. Hawks guard Bogdan Bogdanovic and Heat forward Nikola Jovic were among the key players on that team.

Bogdanovic and Jovic are also on the preliminary Olympic roster, and are joined by three more NBA players in Jokic, Hornets guard Vasilije Micic, and Hornets forward Aleksej Pokusevski. Filip Petrusev and Marko Guduric previously played in the NBA, while Nikola Milutinov, Ognjen Jaramaz, and Vanja Marinkovic were selected in past drafts but have never signed NBA contracts.

Serbia will be in Group C along with the United States at the Olympics and can secure a spot in the quarterfinals with a top-two finish in round-robin play. South Sudan and the winner of an Olympic qualifying tournament in Puerto Rico (Lithuania is the top-rated club in that six-team tournament) will be the other competition in Group C. Assuming Jokic plays, he could end up facing fellow Nuggets star Jamal Murray – who will suit up for Canada – at some point in the single-elimination portion of the event.

Southeast Notes: Pokusevski, Curry, Martin, Forrest, Wizards

March 2nd, 2024 at 10:26am CST by Tristan Tucker

The Hornets signed young forward Aleksej Pokusevski to a two-year contract which is non-guaranteed for the 2024/25 season, according to HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto (Twitter link). Charlotte will get a chance to monitor the 7’0″ forward and see if he can live up to his former 17th overall draft selection status.

Pokusevski became the fourth former Thunder player to join the Hornets after the deadline, joining Vasilije Micic, Tre Mann, and Davis Bertans. According to Sam Perley of Hornets.com (Twitter link), those connections are helping him feel comfortable in his new home.

“It feels good,” Pokusevski said. “The guys are great. [Having former OKC teammates here] makes it easier. Vasa, Tre, Bertāns. It feels better that I can talk to the guys that I know and they can explain how things are going here.”

We have more from the Southeast Division:

Hornets guards Seth Curry (right ankle) and Cody Martin (left ankle) exited the second half of Charlotte’s Friday matchup against the Sixers due to injuries, according to team PR (Twitter link). They will both be evaluated on Saturday.
Hawks guard Trent Forrest is seeing his hard work pay off after getting his two-way contract converted into a standard deal, writes The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Lauren Williams (subscriber link). According to Williams (Twitter links), coach Quin Snyder lauded Forrest’s progression and work ethic. “He’s just he’s been a guy that’s, it’s hard to, have durability and in this league and Trent’s, a guy that’s continuing to work to put himself in a position where he is where he is right now,” Snyder said. “And I say that with full confidence that he’s going to continue to work. And that’s one of the things that we really appreciate about him. Happy for him. I think he he’s earned everything everybody’s given him in this profession.“
As the Wizards continue to deal with injuries, their bench players are starting to see more opportunities, according to The Washington Post’s Ava Wallace (subscriber link). Eugene Omoruyi, Jules Bernard, Jared Butler, Johnny Davis, Patrick Baldwin Jr., and Justin Champagnie have all received first-quarter minutes as of late. Omoruyi was promoted to a standard deal from his two-way contract on Friday. “Right now, it’s a lot of discovery,” Kyle Kuzma said. “Trying to figure out what a lot of guys do, what they can do, what they can’t do, what they bring to winning basketball.“

Hornets Sign Aleksej Pokusevski

February 28th, 2024 at 11:19am CST by Luke Adams

FEBRUARY 28: The Hornets have officially signed Pokusevski, the team announced today in a press release. Charlotte terminated Bolden’s 10-day contract early in order to open up a roster spot (Twitter link).

FEBRUARY 27: The Hornets are expected to sign forward Aleksej Pokusevski, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). Pokusevski became a free agent after being cut by the Thunder last Friday and clearing waivers on Sunday.

The No. 17 overall pick in the 2020 draft, Pokusevski showed plenty of promise in his first three-and-a-half NBA seasons in Oklahoma City, but his development was hindered by health issues. He was limited to just 34 games (25 starts) in 2022/23 due largely to a leg fracture that sidelined him for about three months, then broke his arm during a workout in the spring of 2023 and sprained his ankle this past September.

Pokusevski got off to a strong start in ’22/23, averaging 8.1 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks in 20.6 minutes per game across his 34 appearances, with career-best shooting rates of 43.4% from the field and 36.5% from the three-point line. But those injuries ended the seven-footer’s season early and he only saw garbage-time action in 10 games this season for the Thunder, logging 60 total minutes.

While Pokusevski theoretically could’ve been included in the trade that sent Gordon Hayward to Oklahoma City earlier this month, the Hornets instead acquired Tre Mann, Vasilije Micic, and Davis Bertans in that deal. The Thunder subsequently waived the 22-year-old, who was on an expiring $5MM contract and was no longer part of their future plans.

Now the Hornets are in position to add Pokusevski at a lower cost, though the exact details of his new deal have yet to be reported, so it’s unclear if he’ll earn more than the minimum or if the team will get any control beyond this season.

Charlotte currently has a full 15-man standard roster. However, one of the team’s 15 players – Marques Bolden – is on a 10-day contract that will expire this Thursday night. Pokusevski figures to take Bolden’s roster spot, either after that 10-day deal expires or perhaps earlier, if the Hornets terminate it before the 10-day mark.

Despite a recent hot streak, the Hornets remain well out of the Eastern Conference play-in picture at 15-42, so they’ll be able to use the final month-and-a-half of the season to get a look at Pokusevski in relatively low-stakes games.

Thunder Notes: Holmgren, Pokusevski, SGA, Sefolosha

February 24th, 2024 at 6:23pm CST by Arthur Hill

The presence of 7’1″ rookie Chet Holmgren has added a lob threat to the Thunder‘s offense, writes Joel Lorenzi of The Oklahoman. By December, the team had already thrown more lobs than it did all of last season, when Holmgren was sidelined with a foot injury. The ability to target Holmgren around the rim gives opposing defenses one more weapon to worry about.

“It’s something we’ve definitely tried to highlight, especially against switches,” coach Mark Daigneault said. “If they’re gonna put a smaller guy on him and switch him, we have to throw the ball up to him.”

Holmgren had to learn how to establish position in the post before the lob game became effective, Lorenzi adds. He’s grown more comfortable as the season has worn on, and his teammates have figured out the best ways to get the ball to him.

“Just trusting the process of things,” Holmgren said. “Knowing that not everything is gonna be perfect from Day 1. … We have a lot to work on outside of being better at throwing lobs, catching lobs, playing out of actions that lead to lobs. We just got to continue to work at everything.”

There’s more from Oklahoma City:

Even though the Thunder decided to waive Aleksej Pokusevski this week, Daigneault is proud of how the forward developed his skills during his time with the organization, Lorenzi tweets. “(When he was drafted) I didn’t think he really had a great understanding of his own game as a professional player,” Daigneault said. “… Three and a half years later, I think he’s improved in all those things. And that’s what we want to be about.”
Tim MacMahon of ESPN looks back at the 2019 trade that sent Paul George to the Clippers in exchange for a package that included Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. McMahon states that general manager Sam Presti‘s insistence that SGA be included may have set up the next NBA dynasty. “I didn’t see it coming,” Gilgeous-Alexander recalled. “I’m not like, ‘Why would you do that?’ It made sense. I think Paul just came off like an MVP-caliber year. … I used it a little bit as motivation just to get better and really turn myself into that caliber of player.”
Thabo Sefolosha, who was part of the greatest seasons in Thunder history, sees similarities between his teams and the current roster, per Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman. “I see a lot of what we had, people not expecting them to be this good,” said Sefolosha, who was a guest at Friday’s game as part of Thunder Legacy Weekend. “Super-competitive team. Extremely talented. Credit to Sam. He finds a way. You cannot doubt the man.”

Thunder Waive Aleksej Pokusevski

February 23rd, 2024 at 9:15am CST by Luke Adams

The Thunder have cut forward Aleksej Pokusevski from their 15-man roster, the team announced today in a press release. Pokusevski will become a free agent on Sunday if he goes unclaimed on waivers.

The No. 17 overall pick in the 2020 draft, Pokusevski flashed some tantalizing upside in his first three-and-a-half NBA seasons. However, his development was hindered by health issues. He was limited to just 34 games (25 starts) in 2022/23 due largely to a leg fracture that sidelined him for about three months, then broke his arm during a workout in the spring of 2023 and sprained his ankle this past September.

Pokusevski got off to a strong start in ’22/23, averaging 8.1 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks in 20.6 minutes per game across his 34 appearances, with career-best shooting rates of 43.4% from the field and 36.5% from the three-point line. But those injuries ended the seven-footer’s season early and he only saw garbage-time action in 10 games this season, logging 60 total minutes.

Given his lack of a role and his expiring contract, Pokusevski was a candidate to be on the move at this month’s deadline, but has now been waived instead after not being in included in a trade. Barring an unexpected waiver claim, the Thunder will remain on the hook for his 2023/24 cap hit of $5,009,633.

Pokusevski is still just 22 years old, so as long as he’s healthy, there will likely be rebuilding teams that explore taking a flier on him. John Hollinger of The Athletic (Twitter link) wonders if the Wizards might kick the tires on the young forward, given that general manager Will Dawkins was in Oklahoma City’s front office when he was drafted. For what it’s worth, Pokusevski remains eligible this season to sign a two-way contract.

As for the Thunder, they open up a spot on their 15-man roster as a result of the move. That opening doesn’t have to be filled immediately — it could be used to explore the buyout market, sign someone to a 10-day contract, or perhaps promote one of their two-way players.