Oklahoma City Thunder forward Aleksej Pokusevski (illness) has been ruled out for Friday's contest against the Detroit Pistons, according to Thunder beat writer Joe Mussatto. Poku is dealing with flu-like symptoms, so he will join the many injured or fake injured Thunder players on the sidelines on Friday. The Thunder offense will run through Theo Maledon on Friday, but Isaiah Roby, Lindy Waters III, Aaron Wiggins and Vit Krejci should all have plenty of scoring opportunities as well. Each player from that group is a worthy fantasy starter for Friday's slate, but be warned that several of them could heavily cripple your field goal percentage - especially Krejci, who is fresh off a 1-for-10 shooting night.

The Oklahoma City Thunder sent power forward/center Aleksej Pokusevski to the G League on Monday. The seven-footer fell out of the team's rotation in early January, but he earned playing time in this past Saturday's game against the Sacramento Kings. He played 26 minutes in the contest and shot 5-for-9 from the field on the way to 12 points and nine boards. This is Pokusevski's fifth demotion to the G League this year and there's a good chance he'll be back up with the team after the trade deadline, particularly if the Thunder trade away a rotation player.

Oklahoma City Thunder power forward Aleksej Pokusevski delivered a 10-point showing off the bench in his team's defeat to the Rockets on Friday. Pokusevski was a statistical marvel last season, shooting 28 percent from behind the arc, yet he got up an average of 4.6 shots per game from deep. Still just 19 years old, the Thunder clearly remain high on the Serbian, but his role to begin his second year in the league is a bench one; on Friday, he was instant offense, shooting 4-for-9 from the field overall, including going 2-for-7 from deep. But what makes Pokusevski an appealing fantasy prospect is his ability to pack the stat sheet, which he also did by notching seven rebounds, two assists and two steals. He's not yet relevant in the vast majority of formats, but he's a name to remember as the year moves along.