HOT TAKE: Aleksej Pokusevski will win the NBA MVP (Within the Next 10 Years)

[User_friendly]

I think he can make it; he is the 7 foot ultra-slow version of "noone can speed him up, he plays at his own pace" Luka Doncic

[Yuri Vaultin]

I think Poku is skilled and has solid upside, but I think MVP is way to high a ceiling for him.

Yes he’s skinny and weak and needs to get a lot stronger, but didn’t people say the same things about KD as a rookie? But he still averaged 20 ppg and looked like he belonged. Maybe he’s more Jonathan Bender than KD. And most likely he’s somewhere in between the 2.

People seem to forget that Poku is the youngest player in the NBA.

Durant as a rookie was a whole 4 months older!!!

[Goudelock]

I think he can make it; he is the 7 foot ultra-slow version of "noone can speed him up, he plays at his own pace" Luka Doncic

I don't see him as being "ultra-slow" though? If anything, Pokusevski's biggest asset is that he's both very fast for a seven-footer and is comfortable changing direction on the perimeter. And that he plays at 100 MPH and often out-of-control.

So aside from being from Europe and being white, Poku seems to have nothing in common with Doncic.

[The_Hater]

I think Poku is skilled and has solid upside, but I think MVP is way to high a ceiling for him.

Yes he’s skinny and weak and needs to get a lot stronger, but didn’t people say the same things about KD as a rookie? But he still averaged 20 ppg and looked like he belonged. Maybe he’s more Jonathan Bender than KD. And most likely he’s somewhere in between the 2.

People seem to forget that Poku is the youngest player in the NBA.

Durant as a rookie was a whole 4 months older!!!

I worry about how much weight and strength he can actually add to that frame. He has really narrow shoulders and his Center or gravity feels like it’s 6 feet from the floor. He plays with no knee bend to help his own spend, quickness and core strength.

Need to fast forward 2 years and see what happens though.

[Dadouv47]

OP is right.

Hope the franchise with the n°1 pick feel the same and offer us Cade + value for Poku.``

Well I doubt Poku becomes an all star kind of player but I respect that bold prediction

[Almond2Oak]

Helluva a HAWT take... hell you gave yourself a full decade on top to maybe get this right. Therefore I will say within 10 years a large market team will win a title.

[User_friendly]

I think he can make it; he is the 7 foot ultra-slow version of "noone can speed him up, he plays at his own pace" Luka Doncic

I don't see him as being "ultra-slow" though? If anything, Pokusevski's biggest asset is that he's both very fast for a seven-footer and is comfortable changing direction on the perimeter. And that he plays at 100 MPH and often out-of-control.

So aside from being from Europe and being white, Poku seems to have nothing in common with Doncic.

Maybe his height is deceiving of his speed, but he doesn't look fast to me, at least slower than Doncic, who is not considered a fast player, and especially in traffic he looks to have the patience and ball protection Doncic has. Changing directions is also one of Luka's game characteristics, apart from being white and European.

[Mickey8]

I am impressed that he took Doncic to school off the dribble on several possessions against Dallas , he's more comfortable going all the way to the rack with the ball ,with SGA being out, he has much more freedom in games, which is good for him, gaining valuable in game experience .

[BlazersBroncos]

I am impressed that he took Doncic to school off the dribble on several possessions against Dallas , he's more comfortable going all the way to the rack with the ball ,with SGA being out, he has much more freedom in games, which is good for him, gaining valuable in game experience .

Once he got back from the D-League you could tell that he finally had the confidence to take the ball all the way to the rim rather than settle for floaters and other weak drives. His dribbling is absurdly advanced for a player his height at his age, coming from such a lower level of competition.

And there isnt a Tskiti comparison IMO. Poku has flashed more already than Tskitisvili did his entire rookie contract.

[Fencer reregistered]

He has a clear path to being a Gordon Hayward level of player, which is to say a scoring PG who successfully substitutes size for quickness.

Anything beyond that is thinly-supported speculation.

[John Murdoch]

he looks like JE Skeets

[NO-KG-AI]

I’ve seen crazier.

Size and skills help. Body can come late.

Have you? I think he'd be lowest picked player to ever win MVP. Behind Nash and Giannis.

He wouldn't, as Jokic will win it in the meantime...

Jokic hasn’t won it yet.

I don’t think Moses is a fair comparison in terms of the draft, etc because of the way coming out of high school was viewed nearly 50 years ago.

Do you think Willis Reed would drop that far in the draft in the age of more advanced scouting and the internet?

Either way, my point was, there really aren’t crazier examples of MVPs coming out of the post lotto area. Jokic might be the only example in 50 years, assuming he even wins MVP..

How do Jokic and Poku compare in terms of how effective they were overseas compared to level of competition? I followed Jokic very little there, but I assume he was extremely good and questions were about whether or not he had the athleticism to make an impact here, where as Poku it’s all projectioon about what he can do when he’s not <200lbs.

All that said, I really liked him as a project coming out, and I’m glad to see his confidence isn’t busted by early struggles on offense.

[UcanUwill]

he looks like JE Skeets

Skeets claim he looks like Nash, but he looks exactly like Andy Rautins

[shone_somborac]

If we count whole region of Ex-Yugoslavia, we would have 3 MVP candidates at this moment, Luka, Jokic, and Poku.

[Sgt Major]

Have you? I think he'd be lowest picked player to ever win MVP. Behind Nash and Giannis.

He wouldn't, as Jokic will win it in the meantime...

Jokic hasn’t won it yet.

I don’t think Moses is a fair comparison in terms of the draft, etc because of the way coming out of high school was viewed nearly 50 years ago.

Do you think Willis Reed would drop that far in the draft in the age of more advanced scouting and the internet?

Either way, my point was, there really aren’t crazier examples of MVPs coming out of the post lotto area. Jokic might be the only example in 50 years, assuming he even wins MVP..

How do Jokic and Poku compare in terms of how effective they were overseas compared to level of competition? I followed Jokic very little there, but I assume he was extremely good and questions were about whether or not he had the athleticism to make an impact here, where as Poku it’s all projectioon about what he can do when he’s not <200lbs.

All that said, I really liked him as a project coming out, and I’m glad to see his confidence isn’t busted by early struggles on offense.

Jokic was the MVP of the Adriatic League in 2015, but he never played in the Euroleague against the top European teams.

And I have no idea about Poku. Although he's a Serb as well, I didn't hear about him before he went to the NBA because he played for Olympiakos' B team and, earlier, for some Serbian lower league team whose name I don't even know.

[Mickey8]

Jokic had two very good seasons playing against pretty good competition, at that time, in his first season with the senior team Saric,Nurkic,Marjanovic,Bogdanovic and some other young good prospects who are playing successfully in Europe now , were all playing in the Adriatic league , also he was one of the key players that lead U19 Serbian NT to the finals of the tournament where they played against USA team, with a lot NBA players like Harrel,Winslow,Okafor ,Gordon etc. Jokic was way more experienced players when he came to NBA, playing against the stronger competition. Aleksej Pokusevski was playing second Greek Division, he wasn't very dominant even at the FIBA youth competitions either , unlike Giannis who was dominant at u20 fiba championships.

[UcanUwill]

Jokic had two very good seasons playing against pretty good competition, at that time, in his first season with the senior team Saric,Nurkic,Marjanovic,Bogdanovic and some other young good prospects who are playing successfully in Europe now , were all playing in the Adriatic league , also he was one of the key players that lead U19 Serbian NT to the finals of the tournament where they played against USA team, with a lot NBA players like Harrel,Winslow,Okafor ,Gordon etc. Jokic was way more experienced players when he came to NBA, playing against the stronger competition. Aleksej Pokusevski was playing second Greek Division, he wasn't very dominant even at the FIBA youth competitions either , unlike Giannis who was dominant at u20 fiba championships.

Giannis was not dominant in U20 at all. I remember that summer very well when Giannis resurfaced out of nowhere and it kinda felt like he made U20 team based just on that hype as even Greeks didnt even know the guy, and he wasn't dominating youth teams at all, thats why NBA scouts didnt know what yo make of him, because he was this freak, but he just sucked at organized FIBA basketball, he ended U20 Eurobasket with 8 point average on average greek team, and he had 2 games where he scored a single point, one against Lithuania in 25 minutes, and one against turkey in 30. Giannis was a complete cat in the bag.

[Harry Garris]

He won’t even be in the NBA in 10 years. No way this guy lasts longer than Andrea Bargnani

Why wouldn't he? He's way more skilled than Bargnani is

[Mickey8]

Jokic had two very good seasons playing against pretty good competition, at that time, in his first season with the senior team Saric,Nurkic,Marjanovic,Bogdanovic and some other young good prospects who are playing successfully in Europe now , were all playing in the Adriatic league , also he was one of the key players that lead U19 Serbian NT to the finals of the tournament where they played against USA team, with a lot NBA players like Harrel,Winslow,Okafor ,Gordon etc. Jokic was way more experienced players when he came to NBA, playing against the stronger competition. Aleksej Pokusevski was playing second Greek Division, he wasn't very dominant even at the FIBA youth competitions either , unlike Giannis who was dominant at u20 fiba championships.

Giannis was dominant in U20 at all. I remember that summer very well when Giannis resurfaced out of nowhere and it kinda felt like he made U20 team based just on that hype as even Greeks didnt even know the guy, and he wasn't dominating youth teams at all, thats why NBA scouts didnt know what yo make of him, because he was this freak, but he just sucked at organized FIBA basketball, he ended U20 Eurobasket with 8 point average on average greek team, and he had 2 games where he scored a single point, one against Lithuania in 25 minutes, and one against turkey in 30. Giannis was a complete cat in the bag.

The couple of games I saw , he was dominant , I didn't pay the attention of the entire tournament , he looked good against Serbia.

[hippesthippo]

easymoneypoku