OKC Thunder: 3 burning questions heading into second half of season

OKC Thunder question No. 3) Will Darius Bazley find consistency?

The OKC Thunder already seem to have their Batman in 2021 All-Star snub, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Now, the next step will be to find the combo guard a competent talent to serve as his Robin.

Though we’ve suggested the idea of Sam Presti and co. trading for a potential sidekick for SGA in the past, many have brought up their beliefs that second-year forward Darius Bazley could eventually morph into said role.

With a build and play style similar to that of All-Star Jayson Tatum, the intrigue in the Boston native is understandable. Impacted by his play this season (his first as a starter), some have even gone as far as to suggest that the sophomore has already proven to be one of the biggest steals from the 2019 NBA Draft.

Though he has shown spurts of stellar play through 36 outings thus far, we have yet to be sold on the long-term prospects that Bazley possesses, at least when considering the fact that many expect him to eventually be the second-best player on OKC alongside Gilgeous-Alexander.

On the surface, the 20-year-old is posting solid per-game averages of 11.9 points and 7.5 rebounds. However, digging a little deeper, his efficiency — at least on offense — has been unbelievably underwhelming.

Aside from his putrid shooting splits of 39 percent shooting from the field and 29 percent shooting from deep, of players who have logged 300 or more minutes on the season Bazley currently finds himself ranked third-worst in both offensive box plus/ minus & overall box plus/ minus and ranks dead last in offensive rating.

As we alluded to earlier, the forward has shown glimpses of greatness during his first year as a starter. However, this level of play is quite erratic, as sometimes we’ll see him collect 18 points and seven rebounds on 50 percent shooting and then follow it up with a string of games scoring in the single digits while shooting 25 percent or lower from the field.

A key to Bazley’s progressions will be finding consistency in his game. We at Thunderous Intentions hope to see such a thing during this second-half stretch.