Draft Profile: Aleksej Pokusevski

Position: SF/PF/?? (Olympiacos B, Greece A2) 
Age: 18
Height: 7 ft
Wingspan: 7 ft 3 in
Weight: 200 lbs

The Sales Pitch: What if I told you you could get a potential 2021 lottery pick in this year’s draft? Poku, the extremely young featherweight 7-footer playing in Greece, is a 2K create-a-player come to life. He doesn’t move well for a 7-footer — he moves well, period. He’s a featherweight bag of incredible skills and coordinated movements, and has a beautiful jump shot that lets him splash threes off the catch, off the dribble, and off movement. He can jump, pinning shots above the rim with ease and dunking when he has room to take off. He can pass his ass off, running pick and rolls with ease, hitting shooters on the short roll, and throwing no-look dimes behind his back. What do you even do with a 7-footer who is used like a secondary-playmaking, movement-shooting 2-guard? Whoever drafts Poku is the team that gets to answer that question for the first time. The package of skills is all there for a potentially game-changing, plus-defending, floor-spacing, ball-moving, unholy unicorn power forward we haven’t really seen before.

Check out The Strickland’s 2020 NBA Draft Big Board here!

Elite Skills: Movement/coordination for his size. Possibly passing.

The Devil’s Advocate Argument: He didn’t dominate the nobodies he played against in empty Greek gyms despite being the most talented player on the court nine times out of 10 — he shot 40/32/78. If he has that much trouble when he has that much of a physical/skill advantage, he might be as likely destined for the Westchester Knicks as the big boy Knicks. It also speaks to his motivation and desire: if you can’t impose your will in that situation, can you be trusted as a risk/reward top-10 pick to prove yourself and be a star in your role in the most competitive league in the world? Scouts have seen him get bored and careless in the limited footage we have of him. On defense, he gets bodied regularly because his frame — especially his upper body — is beyond thin. He makes LaMelo Ball look like Anthony Edwards, and it shows in his post defense and finishing.

Important Numbers:

• 18.3: His age at draft time. He is younger than all the players in this draft, and younger than a ton of the players in next year’s draft.

• 12.2: His rebounds per 36.

• 4.8: His assists per 36.

• 2x: His assist/turnover ratio is twice as high as Giannis’ was in the same league at the same age.

The Misconceptions: He’s another tall, lanky, shooting Euro like Kristaps Porzingis. He really does play offense more like a wing — specifically, like a shooting guard — rather than “just” a stretch big; he is exceedingly comfortable handling and making decisions on-ball. He also plays more like an AAU player who knows he’s the shit, even when the shot isn’t falling, defying misguided Euro stereotypes.

Knicks Fit: In theory, he’s a great fit, even if he doesn’t hit his ceiling: a stretch, movement 4 who can keep the offense humming with passing and provide some useful help defense and rim protection is a very useful role player with a high ceiling. It will be critical for him to gain some strength and some discipline — he’s not a “project” in terms of skills, but a project in terms of physical and mental development.

Educate yourself on some other potential Knicks: Killian Hayes, LaMelo Ball, Anthony Edwards, Onyeka Okongwu, Devin Vassell, Isaac Okoro, Patrick Williams, Grant Riller, Obi Toppin