Revisiting OKC Thunder offseason and grading every move to date
By Aidan E
The Rookie:
Drafting Darius Bazley in June was a shocker to a lot of people. With a team fully committed to trying to win a title at the time, drafting a project seemed like an odd choice at the time.
OKC began the draft with the 21st pick and later traded down (for no reason) to 23 in exchange for a 2024 second-round pick. Perhaps they traded down to save some money, and while I am no expert regarding the cap, I don’t see why OKC made this trade in the first place.
Disregarding that, the Memphis Grizzlies (who OKC traded down with) took Brandon Clarke at 21, a player that I was shocked fell that far and thought would be a home run pick for the Thunder, especially since at the time they were going all-in for a title.
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The fact that Bazley just turned 19 years old doesn’t really change my mind either. NBA fans overvalue potential in terms of prospects. Despite the fact that Clarke will be 23 at the start of the NBA regular season, I would have liked to see OKC pick him at 21, or players like Grant Williams, and Nicolas Claxton.
Bazley could absolutely prove me wrong as he has a very intriguing skill set for his size (point forward) but personally, I believe that in the long term players such as Clarke and Williams will ultimately be better pros than Bazley.