Thunder Prospect Evaluation: Darius Bazley
Darius Bazley is a home-grown prospect, being acquired on draft night by the Oklahoma City Thunder and playing there ever since. The No. 23 overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, he’s played many different roles through his two NBA seasons.
A versatile player, Bazley has played several positions at the NBA level, most notably power forward. With that in mind, he’s also proven effective as a small ball center and even as a small forward at times.
A capable ball handler, Bazley fits the style of play the Thunder are building out as they continue to buy in on positionless basketball. There’s still plenty for the 6-foot-10 forward to improve on, but he’s trending in the right direction.
As each player in this series is evaluated, it’s important to consider the prospect they are now, but more importantly how they could look in five years when the Thunder are a competitive playoff team once again.
Last Season’s Numbers
Bazley took on an entirely new role in his second NBA season. He went from a rookie with minimal playing time to a full-time starter in year two.
This led to him playing 31.2 minutes per game, which was a spike in comparison to the prior season. Starting in all 55 games he played in, Bazley’s season was split into two parts due to a shoulder injury that kept him out for quite some time.
However, his performances after returning from injury was promising, playing some of the best basketball of his professional career.
Bazley finished the season averaging 13.7 points on 12.5 shot attempts per game. He also pulled down 7.2 rebounds per contest. While he didn’t shoot very efficiently from the floor, his impact offensively was still solid.
Fit On Current Roster
With the positionless style of play the Thunder are moving towards, players like Bazley are exactly what the team needs. His versatility will allow him to play many minutes at multiple positions all season long.
While the Thunder will continue to accumulate young talent over the next few years, Bazley still projects to be a starter at least for the upcoming season. Many players make significant jumps in their third NBA season, so there should be optimism that Bazley has the best year of his career in the 2021-22 season.
Long-Term Fit
At 21 years old, Bazley fits the timeline of this young Thunder team. With the rebuild recently kicking off in OKC, he’ll have several more seasons to develop before the team is ready to start contending and making a push for the playoffs begin.
However, if Bazley is going to reach his ceiling and truly be a long-term starter, there’s a handful of things he needs to improve upon.
For starters, while he’s an exceptional ball handler for his size, Bazley averaged more turnovers (2.2) than assists (1.8) per game last season. If he’s going to play somewhat of a point forward role in certain lineups, his decision making will need to get better.
From there, it’s all about shooting efficiency for Bazley. Last season, he shot just 39.6 percent from the floor and 29.0 percent from deep.
Bazley has great shooting mechanics and a solid lefty stroke, but he’ll need to do more with his shot attempts going forward.
While he still certainly has the ceiling of a long-time NBA starter, these next two seasons will be a major indicator of whether he’s able to get there.
Prospect Grade
B+
At this point, it’s become somewhat clear that Bazley will never become a superstar. However, he’s still got enough upside to think he could be a legitimate fourth or fifth best option on a championship team one day.
With his long frame and the direction the NBA is going, Bazley is the perfect size to be a modern wing. If he’s able to improve on just a few things and continue to get stronger, he will be well worth the first rounder the Thunder used on him in 2019.
