In this edition of the Thunder mailbag, readers ask about the future of a 2020 NBA Draft pick and what OKC's lineups may look like late in the season.

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@clarkmatthews: What is the plan with Poku? He isn't even suiting up most of the time, but he isn't spending any time with the G-League, either. Could he be released if he isn't traded at the deadline?

Thunder coach Mark Daigneault buttoned up his thoughts on Aleksej Pokusevski the way I expected him to when asked about him this past week. The truth is, there’s hardly room for him anymore.

Poku missed a couple significant development periods with injuries. He’d already probably been behind this team’s timeline considering the leap it’s made, but the periods he’s missed — most recently the training camp that preceded this season — only set him back further.

The Thunder was a completely different team when Poku was drafted in 2020. Lu Dort, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Kenrich Williams were the only common denominators. Steven Adams was still on the team on draft night. As were Danilo Gallinari and Mike Muscala. Poku was an upside swing.

And now, OKC’s core has simply passed him by. It doesn’t help his case that so many of their players are either ahead of schedule or more impactful in such earlier stages of development. Jalen Williams is a star in Year 2. Chet Holmgren is an anchor in Year 1. Cason Wallace is a good role player in Year 1. Those are core pieces, and with how good OKC has been, it seems that it’s only going to lean into the early development stuff for so much longer before it starts surrounding what it has with more mature pieces.

That being said, I still think Poku has some ways to go to be a good player in this league. He could very well be a solid player elsewhere. But his timeline hasn’t moved quickly enough.

If the argument is that he should get minutes over Jaylin Williams, note that Williams plays a useful, niche role in situational matchups. One that OKC couldn’t ask Poku to play. The room for what he offers has mostly diminished, as has any patience for it to turn into something more.

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@TheyCallMeBen: Thoughts on the perplexing lineup changes? Do they finally get solidified soon? Or do we play 12-15 guys until April?

They come with the Thunder’s philosophy. Enjoy the wins, appreciate the growth, digest the random Lindy Waters minutes. OKC probably isn’t changing.

There’s a method to the spontaneity you’ve seen to this point. It might seemingly make less sense now that OKC’s aspirations become more lofty with each week, but it feels like the team would rather double down on its identity than lose its way.

Because somewhere in between the rotations that might not seem fruitful, the Thunder seems to be fishing for small wins. A good stretch of minutes by a player they’ve crossed their fingers for. A good quarter for a player they don’t want to give up on quite yet or hope to squeeze every ounce of production from. A fit in a certain lineup that might maximize said player’s value.

Even the smallest of wins there would create the feeling Brad Pitt hoped to evoke as Billy Beane in Moneyball. For every confusing stretch of Ousmane Dieng minutes, there’s a breakthrough like the one Vasilije Micic has had in January. And while fans might be watching Dieng for his scoring or offensive feel, the team could be watching for how disruptive he is as a double-team defender — niche ways of impacting the game that could be beneficial in later situations.

That comes with swallowing mistakes, too. Like a night where OKC could’ve used Aaron Wiggins’ cutting or feel or pluggability and he instead hardly plays. The staff sacrifices things like that for the sake of another hopeful look. But they aren’t the Oklahoma City Masochists.

The things that work, stick. Or will likely stick down the line. With how well Wiggins has played recently, his minutes have increased. Daigneault has lauded him more and more, even calling him the team’s best system player after a win in San Antonio. Chances are he’d be part of a tighter rotation in the postseason.

Could the Thunder tighten its rotation a smidge come the postseason? Sure. But would it ever trim down to a typical eight-man lineup? Those chances are low. Daigneault has thrown out unpredictable, at times wacky lineups, and it's still seen the team rise to No. 1 in the West.

It doesn’t seem likely that he’ll wake up one day and completely abandon his style to fit a strict mold like almost everyone else.

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To make future editions of the mailbag, email questions to jlorenzi@oklahoman.com or message him on Twitter @jxlorenzi.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: What does Aleksej Pokusevski's future with OKC Thunder look like?