OKC Thunder: 3 breakout candidates not named Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

Breakout candidate No. 3) Darius Bazley

When fans begin to think about potential breakout candidates this year, they automatically jump to the likes of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. However, right after him, the next name to be brought up should be Darius Bazley, who is easily our pick to exceed expectations in 2020-21.

With former starting power forward, Danilo Gallinari now in Atlanta,  it is widely expected that the OKC Thunder will slide Bazley into this position — after the postseason in which he just had, there should really be no questioning as to why this is such a popular hypothesis.

Through seven games, the 20-year-old posted solid averages of 6.6 points and 6.7 rebounds on 42 percent shooting from the floor and a whopping 50 percent shooting from deep while chucking up 3.1 attempts per game.

If this isn’t enough to convince you he could produce admirably with more minutes on the court — only averaged 18 minutes during that series — perhaps his ACTUAL averages when logging substantial time might.

Despite being just a rookie, when averaging 31.7 minutes last year Bazley found himself posting an impressive stat line of 13.8 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks a game on 42 percent shooting from the field and 39 percent shooting from deep (3.3 attempts per game).

With a body frame and skill-set similar to that of All-Star Jayson Tatum, fans should be really excited about their 23rd overall pick from the 2019 draft, especially now that he’ll likely be the Thunder’s starting four in year two.