Darius Bazley's Case for a Starting Job
Darius Bazley could get his job back.
Last season, Bazley lost his starting job and found himself relegated to the bench. Bazley showed positive flashes in his new role and found some success before a season-ending injury.
This year he could find himself back in a position to be back in the starting five. Training camp, for many of the players on the OKC roster, serves as an interview for the roles around the roster.
With the four job open for the taking between a group of young talented players Bazley has the inside shot at it. After all, he’s got the experience there with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
In 69 games last season (53 starts) Bazley averaged 10.8 points and 6.3 rebounds per contest. His mix of rebounding and previous experience gives him a chance to be a major factor in the starting lineup.
Aleksej Pokusevski could put a run for the starting job as well. The 7-footer has had a similar up-and-down time in OKC, but Bazley has been slightly more consistent over his short career.
OKC has a small lineup overall, but Bazley, while undersized, meshes with the skill sets of the others and his rebounding ability makes up for the lack of total size.
In many ways Bazley is entering a prove it year. He’s continued to show increments of improvement, but with the team getting closer to competing Bazley needs to take a big stride. A starting spot gives him the chance to prove he can be a pivotal part of the rotation in the future.
In 2020-21, Bazley started all 55 games he played in and averaged 13.6 points and over seven rebounds. He’s shown he can be a part of a successful starting core and this year could be more of the same.
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