OKC Thunder: 3 season goals for Darius Bazley in 2020-21

Keep the confidence going

Bazley is definitely a player who needs to play with a level of confidence in order to be effective. As mentioned earlier, it was easy to see when he lost this during his time on the court and his game suffered as a result.

This season he is not going to have the voice of Chris Paul to tell him that he can do it. Instead, he is going to be on a team where he is the second longest-serving player. This is just after playing only one season in the league.

Due to the Thunder promoting their head coach internally, the systems should be fairly similar. This means that Bazley is going to have to take one or more of the new guys under his wing. If he is not confident in his own game then this could adversely impact the growth of his teammates.

Bazley’s role with the Thunder is also likely to expand. Depending on who the Thunder add to their roster, Bazley might find himself a starter on opening night. If “bubble Bazley” hits the floor, then the Thunder are going to be competitive. If the Bazley appears who passed up open shots, then this is a problem.