OKC Thunder rookie Darius Bazley is the transition maestro

In the pace and space era of the current NBA, the OKC Thunder have unearthed a maestro in transition, rookie Darius Bazley.

The OKC Thunder are their most dangerous on offense in transition. They have the floor general Chris Paul who can find an open player with his eyes closed in the dark. They have Steven Adams who is the best rim running center in the game and Danilo Gallinari can hit a transition three with scary regularity.

Rookie Darius Bazley has taken up the transition mantra and literally run with it. He is moving well up the floor without the ball and is often supporting the ball handler. His instincts when the play is broken are exceptional as Bazley tends to come into his own.

Bazley’s ability to read when to move to the hoop at the right time tends to mean the defense has little to no chance to stop the bucket. It is not just on offense that Bazley is playing well in transition.  He has two blocks in two out of the last three games and is altering shots.

Moreover, Bazley is usually the first one back and uses his athleticism to his advantage.

However, against the Los Angeles Lakers, Bazley showed that he is getting into the half court mindset.

The youngster cuts from the top of the key towards the hoop receives the perfect pass from Dennis Schroder and then knows how to finish with style.

Over the past three games, the OKC Thunder are developing an interesting trend. In the two losses Bazley over the past three games, Bazley has had a positive impact on the box score. In the second game against the Lakers, Bazley had a plus 10 in the box score.

In the game against the Portland Trail Blazers Bazley had a plus 17 in the box score. These numbers show that Bazley is playing hard every time that he hits the court.

As a rookie, that above everything is the best thing Bazley could offer consistently to the team.