Thunder End of the Year Report Card: Darius Bazley

Darius Bazley's season wasn't the one that was expected at the start of the season, but it wasn't all bad for the third year forward.

It wasn’t the season Darius Bazley most likely expected when the year began, but with a role change and mounting injuries he made the most of the opportunity.

Midway through the season Bazley was removed from the starting lineup and instead his role was shifted to coming off of the bench, but overall Bazley found his niche within the team before ultimately suffering a season ending injury at the tail end of the season.

His overall grade is challenging to find when weighing everything he dealt with over the course of the season, but he does pass the season.

Overall Grade: B

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It’s impossible to find someone who played more games this season for the Thunder than Bazley did. He played in 69 total games, eight more than the second-most from Aleksej Pokusevski. That mark is enough to pass him in terms of grades.

This season was Bazley’s final season before he becomes eligible for his rookie contract extension, which gave him heavy reason to play the games when able bodied.

In the games he played he was a key contributor no matter his role. When Bazley was moved to the bench he was more efficient than when he was a starter. He set career highs in three different key statistics and one advanced metric. 

Shooting: B-

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With his move to the bench Bazley’s offensive load went down but his efficiency and effectiveness actually went up. While his scoring went down from the 2020-21 campaign his field goal percentage and effective field goal percentage was the best of his three year career.

Bazley scored 10.8 points per game while shooting 42.2% and reaching a mark of 48.4% effective field goal percentage. He also shot 68.8% from the free throw line.

With his new role Bazley filled in perfectly in what was asked of him and continued to affect the games he played in until his season ending injury. 

Defense: B+

Alonzo Adams / USA TODAY Sports

What Bazley lost in scoring with his move to the bench he gained in defensive prowess. Rebounding was a strong suit for the Thunder season and Bazley helped with that. Overall Bazley finished with 6.3 rebounds per game, which is behind only Josh Giddey of players who played more than half of the games this season.

Bazley also made his defensive ability known with his steals and blocks, which set career marks in both categories. He finished with 0.8 steals per game and 1 block per game, which led the Thunder in the category.

With Bazley losing minutes which led to his offense taking a hit, his defense earned him high marks as the offseason begins. 

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