OKC Thunder player grades: Dort’s career night fails to beat Jazz

In his second game back since missing 17, Darius Bazley looked out of rhythm and hesitant which is somewhat understandable. With Mark Daigneault starting Baz, Roby, and Brown it led to a clogged frontcourt and relegated him primarily to the perimeter.

Having to face the likes of Rudy Gobert as well as his own front-court partners didn’t offer many rebounding opportunities either. But for Dort to grab seven boards and Bazley to grab one isn’t an ideal allocation of their efforts.

His defense was more miss than hit. The fact both men he guarded scored above their season averages speaks to those issues. Although Bojan Bogdanovic scoring 18 (averages 15.1) is understandable allowing George Niang who averages 5.5 points to score 18 was essentially the difference in the game.

In fairness, Baz did more than the stats accumulated show.  And to put it in perspective, he’s still a sophomore who has yet to appear in 100 professional games. If I could send him one note it would be to be more aggressive offensively.

Isaiah Roby was another core contributor returning to the rotation after missing four games also in the concussion protocol program. Like Bazley this large frontcourt didn’t mesh and hurt the overall floor spacing as both Baz & Roby tried to space out more than typical.

His shot was off (understandable given the rust) with him scoring five points on 2 of 8. Roby did all those Swiss Army knife things that make him special though with nine rebounds (three offensive), two assists, and a steal but he was a minus 16 — by far the worst mark of all the starters.

Here’s the thing about Moses Brown. If you strictly look at the box score his double-double of 12 points, 15 rebounds, two steals, and a block on their own are exceptional.

The problem is while he feasts on the glass and is a definite rim protector he’s not the ideal starting center for the Thunder. One look at how Baz and Roby were limited speaks to this fact. He will, however, be an excellent backup center when the Thunder eventually adds the starting depth they need.

As a reserve he’ll feast against backups and when the Thunder do need a key rebound or energy he’ll offer it.