What if the OKC Thunder nailed every draft pick since 2011?
By Rylan Stiles
The OKC Thunder swung for the fences with Darius Bazley before shipping him to the Suns at the 2023 NBA Trade Deadline.
In the 2019 NBA Draft, the Oklahoma City Thunder kicked off their blockbuster Summer by Selecting Darius Bazley in the first round via a trade with the Memphis Grizzlies to give Memphis Brandon Clarke.
In the process, the OKC Thunder missed on Brandon Clarke, Grant Williams, Jordan Poole, Keldon Johnson, Kevin Porter Jr, Nic Claxton, Terance Mann, Jalen McDaniels, and Nassir Little.
Frankly, any of those names would be better than the production Darius Bazley gave the Thunder. For as much of a believer, as I was in Bazley, he never panned out in Bricktown. He certainly never lived up to the Building Block Bazley nickname.
So pick which of the above names you hope the OKC Thunder grabbed in Darius Bazley’s place; I would narrow the list down to Keldon Johnson and Nic Claxton. Johnson played in 17 games for the Spurs as a rookie but has taken off since. The Spurs forward has turned in a career average of 16 points, five rebounds, and two assists per game thus far while shooting 36 percent from beyond the arc and 46 percent from the floor.
While Nic Claxton turned in the best field goal percentage in the NBA this past season, shooting 70 percent on his way to averaging 12 points, nine rebounds, and two assists per game to go along with a steal and two blocks per tilt.
Ultimately I would settle on Keldon Johnson for the Oklahoma City Thunder from the 2019 NBA Draft.