First round pick Darius Bazley has been playing good minutes for the OKC Thunder. Time to take a look at how he is going.
It is not often that OKC Thunder head coach Billy Donovan has a great deal of trust in his rookies. After the off-season that was, Donovan needs to show he can develop young players as the Thunder are now building for the future.
Darius Bazley, taken with the 23rd pick of the 2019 draft has shown through training camp and the first part of the season that he is a player beyond his very tender 19 years. Now that he is through his first six games it is time to check on the rookie.
Through the first six games, Bazley has averaged 5.0 points, 3.8 rebounds. 0.5 assists and 0.3 blocks per game. He has managed this in a solid 17.3 minutes per outing. His shooting percentages are solid as well, his slash line being 47.6/45.5/83.3.
The rookie is the backup for Danilo Gallinari, often the first big man off the bench, even before Nerlens Noel. This shows that Donovan has a level of trust in the rookie, over and above any other rookie that has ever played for Donovan in his tenure as head coach.
This trust is echoed by point guard Chris Paul. The veteran was passing the ball to Bazley when he was open but the rookie was hesitant to shoot the ball. Paul pulled Bazley aside and told him that he would not be passing the ball to the rookie if he did not believe that Bazley could make the shot, “just keep shooting.”
After setting a career-high in scoring @BazleyDarius tells the media how his teammates support helped him find his confidence.#ThunderUp pic.twitter.com/rcC0lcrKLx
— Bally Sports Oklahoma (@BallySportsOK) November 3, 2019
It is this sort of encouragement which has given Bazley the confidence to grow his game in the short time he has been an NBA player. Bazley experienced two solid games since coming into the league. Both of them have been in Thunder victories.
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Against the Golden State Warriors coach, Donovan played Bazley for 26 minutes in the blowout win. Bazley had five points, seven rebounds, and two assists. His next two games were quiet but then came the game against the New Orleans Pelicans.
Bazley missed his first two 3-point attempts. He then got the ball in the corner and drove to the hoop, He had made the reverse layup and then he was away. Bazley hit his next two attempts from deep. Bazley finished with 17 points, five rebounds, and an incredible transition block.
The rookie is playing with a level of maturity which belies his years. He is showing that the future of the OKC Thunder is indeed very bright. The next thing that the young rookie needs to develop is a level of consistency.
The next game the Thunder play is against the Orlando Magic. This will be the perfect chance for Bazley to play against a lower ranked opponent and put together two consecutive solid games.
This will be the next stage in the development of this exciting young rookie and we will be covering it all here at Thunderous Intentions.