The OKC Thunder are in the midst of a heavy rebuild, and they have seen some ups and downs. The light at the end of the tunnel is sometimes glowing with the beam of a thousand suns (when Josh Giddey breaths), and sometimes as dim as a crisp December night in Oklahoma (when the team loses by 73, an NBA record).
As the team has giveth and taketh away hope from its fans, it is largely due to player production. No fan expected the 2021-22 campaign to be littered with wins and overjoyed by shocking the world again. The goal of this season, and the outlook of fans, shifted from what the scoreboard said, to individual players.
Some players have stood up to the test, even flashing improvements throughout this season. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s setback three being a legitimate part of his game now, Josh Giddey winning rookie of the month in the Western Conference, and Lu Dort upping his rim percentage to a career-high mark.
However, other players have gone the opposite route showing true regression this year. Namely, Theo Maledon and Darius Bazley. A year ago, Maledon looked like the steal of the draft, many pegging him for the sixth man of the future for the Oklahoma City Thunder. “My goodness, Sam Presti did it again!” We all exclaimed in the virtual twitter streets.
Now, Maledon is hardly hanging on the varsity roster, mainly subjected to the G-Leauge affiliate the OKC Blue. The 2020 second-round pick still offers hope for the future as he is just 20 years old despite his three-point regression as he hurls up triples to the tune of a 13 percent clip. He shoots a dreadful seven percent from the non-corner and only improves to a 22-percent clip in the corner when shooting threes.
Theo Maledon’s regression is getting less outcry because from a fanbase perspective, at least Sam Presti and Mark Daigneault are doing something! Fans mainly just want change, and Maledon’s role being reduced to a G-Leauge starter fills that void for the OKC Thunder faithful.
OKC Thunder remains committed to Darius Bazley despite his struggles
The Oklahoma City Thunder are sitting at 6-16, 1-9 in their last ten games, and on an eight-game losing streak. The Bricktown boys are a game better than the last-place New Orleans Pelicans in the Western Conference. The Thunder have a shot at the worst team in the Eastern Conference on Monday Night in Detroit to get back on track.
Much like the rest of the team, Darius Bazley needs a huge bounce back. After showing flashes of a true building block earlier this season he has hit a wall harder than a Freshman on Finals week pounding coffee for the first time in their life.
During the first 11 games, Bazley posted 11.7 points per game, seven rebounds, on 43-percent from the floor all while taking a huge defensive leap. Throughout the last 11 games, remaining in the starting five the entire season, Bazley is averaging just five points per game, six rebounds, and shooting a league-low (compared to other starters) field goal percentage (24.4-percent).
The Oklahoma City Thunder have stuck by Darius Bazley, as bench boss Mark Daigneault keeping him in the starting lineup for all 22 games this year averaging 27-minutes per contest (fourth-most on the team, only behind Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Lu Dort, and Josh Giddey his fellow staple starters). Sam Presti also picked up Bazley’s contract option for the 2022-23 NBA season. The former first-round pick is owed north of four million dollars next season.
As we meet with Mark Daigneault before every game the head ball coach has been asked by the media multiple times about Bazley’s starting spot aimed at his struggles. Daigneault has remained consistent that the team has not wavered on Bazley. Stressing his defensive improvements, and outlining that allowing Darius Bazley to grow, even through rough patches, is what this year is all about.
With the OKC Thunder organization backing Darius Bazley, the question remains, is this the right choice?
The first branch off the “Should Darius Bazley start?” tree, is who would you replace him within this first five? Kenrich Williams? Aleksej Pokusevski? Mike Muscala? Start both Jeremiah Robinson-Earl and Derrick Favors? (which surprisingly was a fun lineup when Dave Bliss deployed it during his time on the sidelines)
The second branch is filled with beautiful leaves, is “What is the harm?” This season is not about competing, it is not about winning games, there is not a truly ready player behind Bazley that is prepared to leap into that starting role, isn’t what this season is all about? See if Bazley can sink or swim, and even if you watch him drown, at least Presti knows what he needs to do moving forward?
The third and final branch is “how good is this for his development?” Sure, he is still getting NBA minutes, saved from whatever embarrassment comes from going down to the G-League squad, yes, he still gets his name called at the start of the game with all the pomp and circumstance, but at what point is this the definition of insanity? At what point does Bazley need to reset and just take a breath to try to get going? He is shooting a career-low at the rim, a career-low from three has shown no progress in the mid-range, a career-low in the corner from three, and a career-low in the non-corner three. Bazley also turns in a career-worst free throw percentage, a career-low shooting foul percentage, but a career-high and-one percentage.
Luckily for the OKC Thunder, Bazley’s defense has been dramatically improved he has the best block percentage in the league for his position according to Cleaning the Glass (1.9-percent), a career-best steal percentage, and he is elite this season at playing defense without fouling, with no shortage of tough assignments.
Like it or not, this season belongs to Darius Bazley. Sit back, grab some popcorn, cozy up next to your television, maybe have a paper bag ready (to either shield your eyes or collect your upchuck), and let’s see what happens. Do you still have faith in Bazley? With his strong defensive leap, I still believe he can figure out the offensive end of the floor to allow him to be a valuable NBA player.