Thunder End of Year Report Card: Darius Bazley

Darius Bazley had a promising start to his career, giving OKC solid playoff minutes in the NBA Bubble as a rookie. The 6-foot-9 forward is a former five-star prospect who was considered extremely raw coming into the draft, especially after deciding to train with New Balance for a year rather than compete in the NCAA.

Bazley was ranked as the No. 17 player in his high school class according to the 247Sports Composite. The Princeton High School product showed off his wild athleticism on the grassroots circuit, earning him McDonald's All-American honors.

Overall grade: C

Despite Bazley's incredible athleticism, the former Thunder forward has yet to find a role in the NBA. This season, Bazley played 36 games Oklahoma City, making one start. This is a massive drop off from the previous two years, which saw the now-Suns forward make over 50 starts each season.

Additionally, Bazley only saw the floor for an average of 15.4 minutes per game this season with OKC, down from almost 28 minutes per game in 2021-22. When Bazley was traded to the Suns, his minutes were cut again, appearing in only seven contests and spending less than nine minutes on the court per game.

Offensively

Bazley averaged 5.4 points, 3.4 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game with the Thunder this season, his lowest career output in each of the three statistical categories. The fourth-year veteran hit double figures four times for Oklahoma City this season, scoring a season-high 17 points in a November win over the Chicago Bulls.

The 22-year-old's shooting percentages in OKC this season were solid, going almost 45% from the field and 40% from beyond the arc. While Bazley did shoot a low volume in 2022-23, 40% from 3-point range is by far the best mark of his career.

Defensively

Due to his remarkable leaping ability, Bazley was theorized to be a good shot-blocker, and even had success altering shots in his time with the Thunder. Despite this, the former No. 23 overall pick has only recorded one block per game once in his career.

In his first 12 appearances of 2022-23, Bazley recorded three blocks in a game three separate times. The Massachusetts native notched at least one block in 13 of his first 15 games this season, finishing with a whopping 20 blocks over that stretch.

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