The Oklahoma City Thunder selected four players in the 2022 NBA Draft, and with those selections come a slew of new numbers. While Jalen Williams (8), Jaylin Williams (6), and Ousmane Dieng (13) selected numbers no one else had, 2nd overall pick Chet Holmgren was able to swipe up the number 7 from current-OKC Thunder forward Darius Bazley.
The OKC Thunder invested a first-round pick in Darius Bazley way back in 2019. The world has been turned upside down since Bazley was the 23rd selection in the 2019 NBA Draft. The Ohio native (despite being born in Boston) elected to skip the traditional college route. Instead, he began interning at New Balance where he was set up with a shoe deal and paid to prepare for the draft.
Darius Bazley showed flashes during his rookie year which was interrupted by a pandemic only allowing him to play in 61 games, averaging five points, four rebounds, and nearly a steal and block per game on 34 percent shooting from distance. Bazley only made nine starts as a rookie.
In year two, Bazley started all 55 games he played in, really coming on strong at the end of the season after recovering from a shoulder injury.
Last season, in his third NBA year, Bazley was benched midway through playing in 69 total games, only starting 53 of them. The 22-year-old transformed his game defensively putting up elite numbers on that end of the floor. Offensively, Bazley still struggled for much of the season.
The Oklahoma City Thunder see Darius Bazley switch numbers from 7 to 55 to allow second overall pick, Chet Holmgren, to wear 7 to begin his NBA career
Darius Bazley has worn number 7 his entire career, but this year it was announced he will switch to the number 55. Bazley becomes just the second player in Oklahoma City Thunder history to dawn number 55, the first being Scotty Hopson who logged one game in the 2021-22 season. When Darius Bazley steps on the floor for the first time next season, it will be just the second game any Thunder player has worn 55. In Seattle history, two others have worn 55, Steven Scheffler (1993-97), and Rob Higgins (1986).
Chet Holmgren now takes over the number 7, but he confirmed he gave “nothing” up to Darius Bazley in exchange for the number. Holmgren explained that he received a list of numbers available from the Thunder and 7 was not on the initial list, then an hour later it was.
Holmgren becomes the ninth player in Thunder history to wear the number 7, before Bazley Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot (2019), Carmelo Anthony (2018), Ersan Ilyasova (2017), Grant Jarrett (2015), Royal Ivey (2011-14), Kevin Ollie (2010), and Joe Smith (2009).