Hornets make roster moves, add former first-round pick and release Duke product

Tre Mann and Vasilije Micić, two of the newest members of the Charlotte Hornets, are welcoming a former teammate into the fold.

The Hornets officially signed free agent forward Aleksej Pokusevski on Wednesday, adding him to the roster five days after the native of Belgrade, Serbia, was waived by the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Selected No. 17 overall in 2020, the 22-year-old Pokusevski appeared in only 150 games over four-plus seasons for Oklahoma City, failing to consistently show the potential he displayed when he posted 8.2 points and 4.7 rebounds in just under 25 minutes per game in his rookie season.

Similar to Mann and Micic, the 7-footer didn’t see much action with the Thunder this season prior to his release. He appeared in just 10 games, averaging 1.2 points and a rebound in six minutes.

Injuries were a problem for Pokusevski during his tenure with Oklahoma City. He dealt with a fracture in his right arm over the summer and couldn’t shake a nagging sprained ankle that shelved him for the bulk of the Thunder’s training camp and preseason schedule.

At this point, there’s not much the Hornets lose bringing Pokusevski on board. With 24 games remaining and the team out of the playoff hunt, it gives the staff and talent evaluators a head start on checking him out, providing an up close view at his skill set, basketball IQ and overall intangibles.

Pokusevski was added to the roster after Marques Bolden’s release. Bolden appeared in only one game for the Hornets — Tuesday’s loss to Milwaukee — and didn’t take a shot or score. The Hornets signed the Duke product to a 10-day contract on Feb. 20 to provide frontcourt depth following the NBA trade and due to Mark Willams’ continued unavailability. But he became expendable with Pokusevski on the market, leading to the roster tweaking.