Darius Bazley has met his primary objectives over the last calendar year. One: get drafted despite forgoing the college experience with an apprenticeship with New Balance and the Klutch Sports fraternity. Two: earn playing time despite playing behind both established veterans and many other Thunder prospects with more urgent questions about their place in OKC’s future.
What he’s done with those minutes hasn’t been overly impressive, but there’s a reason he kept receiving opportunities to develop on the NBA court instead of in the G League. Bazley has length and athleticism, but isn’t the explosive-but-raw (think Jerami Grant, Andre Roberson, Hamidou Diallo) project you’d expect Sam Presti to roll the dice on late in the draft.