Thunder End of The Year Report Card: Darius Bazley
One of the most interesting prospects on the young Thunder squad, Darius Bazley had a rocky start to his second season, but found his groove late. Here is SI Thunder's report cards for Bazley's second NBA season:
Nick Crain's Grade: B-
Darius Bazley had what I would consider a pretty successful sophomore season.
However, it was extremely inconsistent and wasn’t always the most efficient. Even though he only played 55 games due to injury, Bazley finished 13th in total points, sixth in total rebounds,18th in total assists and 14th in total blocks per game among his sophomore peers.
With that in mind, in the role he played and the responsibility he was given, these types of numbers should be expected. His 31.2 minutes per game were second-most on the team outside of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. With that many minutes and being a primary scorer late in the season, the offensive numbers could have been better. Similarly, he attempted 12.5 shots per game while only scoring 13.7 points per contest.
Too small to play full-time center, Bazley will play his best going forward primarily at power forward and small forward. However, he only shot 29.0 percent from deep this season and also committed 2.2 turnovers per game. If he’s going to reach the next level of his game, he’ll need to improve his shooting and ability to take care of the ball. Either way, for his age and size, he’s overall a solid 3-point threat and ball-handler at 6-foot-8.
With all of this in mind, Bazley is still just 20 years old and still projects as a long-term starter in the NBA. For him, it’s going to come down to identifying which position he fits at best and being more consistent and efficient with his production.
He also improved as a defender this season, showing versatility guarding multiple positions and was given some tough assignments.
Derek Parker's Grade: C+
I'm not going to sugarcoat it, Darius Bazley wasn't quite where I thought he was as an NBA player this season.
At 31.2 minutes per game, the sophomore scored 13.7 points per game and added 7.2 rebounds. Efficiency wise, he again hovered around 39 percent, which is great considering he added seven shots per game this year.
In short, his three-point shooting was rough, and decision making just wasn't up to speed yet. He shot just 29 percent on 5.2 attempts per game, and struggled to get into consistent offensive rhythm.
A ultra-hot streak to end the season, 17.2 ppg in 19 games, saved a bit of Bazley's stats this year.
The great part about Bazley's underwhelming year, is that that's just fine for a 20-year old forward finding his footing in the NBA.
Remember, it's just a season grade. Truthfully, his year was underwhelming, but plenty of phenomenal players have had underwhelming early seasons -- it doesn't define careers. Bazley is statistically ahead of where Giannis Antetokounmpo and Pascal Siakim were in their second seasons.
Positives include his apparent athleticism and defensive prowess -- Bazley is far ahead in these categories. Should he find an offensive groove in year three, one he possible found at the end of year two, he'll make a huge leap as a player in this league.
All-in-all, you'd rather have a C+ season to learn and grow from than a year full of trying to be perfect.
Ryan Chapman's Grade: C
Coming off of last year's NBA Bubble, Darius Bazley had Thunder fans fired up about what the former New Balance intern could be in his second year in the league.
Unfortunately, Bazley fell short of those lofty expectations, which is okay.
Inconsistent play is the hallmark of a young player in the NBA, and Bazley appeared to learn as the season progressed and continued to improve.
Struggling to play alongside Al Horford and Mike Muscala early in the year, Bazley came into his own down the stretch run of the season once Tony Bradley and Moses Brown were thrown into the mix.
And then Bazley found his aggressiveness.
Playing with nothing to lose after the Trade Deadline, Bazley attacked and attacked, a great sign in the dying days of the 2020-21 season.
He will have to increase his efficiency once Shai Gilgeous-Alexander gets thrown back into the mix, but if he can do that, Bazley can build on the back quarter of the season and continue to grow as a part of OKC's young core.
But we've been fooled by Bazley toward the end of the season once before, so we'll have to wait and see what he brings to the table to start next year before ramping up our expectations again.
