Opinion: Darius Bazley is Entering a Massive Year in Oklahoma City

Darius Bazley has a big year ahead.

Entering his third season in the NBA, the former New Balance intern needs to start living up to his potential.

After putting things together in the NBA Bubble in Orlando at the end of his rookie season, he entered the 2020-21 season with a lot of promise.

Instead, he was slow out of the gate and struggled on both ends of the floor as he was asked to play against some of the most dynamic offensive players in the NBA.

Bazley didn’t really turn things on until Moses Brown and Tony Bradley emerged, occupying the space down low to let Bazley get back on the perimeter.

The second year player also found his aggression, attacking the basket with much more intent as the year came to a close.

But with an increase in aggressiveness came a steady influx of turnovers.

Over the last 19 games of the season, Bazley averaged 3.1 turnovers per contest as he tried to make plays for his team.

In the face of the turnover uptick, the offensive results were encouraging.

Bazley averaged 17.2 points per game over the final 19 games of the season, up from his season average of 13.7 points per game.

The progress to close the season was encouraging, but Bazley can’t afford a setback at the beginning of the 2021-22 season like the rocky start he had to last year.

It’s apparent that Bazley and Aleksej Pokusevski cannot handle the load at center for OKC, so they’ll be in competition for the other jumbo forward spot on the floor. As the two split minutes at the four, things will be made more complicated by the arrival of the Thunder’s first round draft pick this year, who will likely be eating up the non-center minutes as well unless Sam Presti is able to acquire a player the likes of Evan Mobley or Alperen Sengun.

Bazley needs to take a step forward in multiple facets this year.

He only shot 29 percent from 3 in his sophomore season, a mark which must improve if he wants to be a legitimate perimeter scoring threat in today’s NBA.

He also has a ways to go defensively, as Bazley logged a defensive rating of 114 points allowed per 100 possessions last year.

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If he doesn’t start to put things together, the Thunder may have to look elsewhere for their power forward of the future.

Trade rumors indicate that the Los Angeles Lakers are interested in acquiring Kemba Walker. If Presti were to deal Walker and get a player like Kyle Kuzma in return, the Thunder would be getting the player they hope Bazley can be while Kuzma would still be young enough to match Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s timeline.

Kuzma outshot Bazley from the field (44.3 percent to 39.6 percent), from 3-point range (36.1 percent to 29.0 percent), all while playing a much more diminished role in LA.

While Bazley is still only 21, he needs to have a strong showing this upcoming year to prove he will be more than just a rotational piece in Oklahoma City.

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