As he continues to recover from a shoulder injury, Oklahoma City Thunder forward Aleksej Pokusevski has been progressing nicely and is on pace to be “100 [percent] ready” for NBA Training Camp when it opens on Oct. 3, per Sportal reporter Christos Tsaltas.

Pokusevski broke his hand at the beginning of May, fractured his humerus a few weeks later, and seemingly dislocated his shoulder in late July when it “popped out,” per EuroHoops, likely preventing him from playing for Serbia's national team in the 2023 FIBA World Cup. After seeing a specialist in Athens, Pokusevski was unable to practice with a basketball until August. However, with Pokusevski now feeling on the up-and-up, he may be able to avoid another slow start to the NBA season.

Now 21 years old, Pokusevski is approaching his fourth career season after OKC selected him with the 17th overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft. As a mid-first round pick that fits a mold of skilled big men that have become increasingly popular in the league, Poku has frankly underwhelmed to this point but is coming off of a career-best season.

In 34 games, the 7-footer averaged 8.1 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.3 blocks and 0.6 steals in 20.6 minutes per game. While none of those numbers were career-highs for Pokusevski, his efficiency was, as he shot 43.4 percent from the field and 36.5 percent from 3-point range.

The allure of Pokusevski is simple, as even with a growing emphasis on developing the guard skills of big men, there are not many with his combination of size, mobility, talent and youth. However, now set to enter the final season of his rookie contract, this could be a make-or-break year for the Belgrade native.