Oklahoma City Thunder: 2019 NBA Draft grades

With the 23rd pick in the first round of the 2019 NBA Draft, the Oklahoma City Thunder selected Darius Bazley. Here is their draft grade.

The Oklahoma City Thunder picked Terrance Ferguson with their first round pick in 2017, deciding to draft based on potential instead of drafting for need.

Ferguson has made strides in his development, and that may have inspired OKC to pick the guy they picked in the 2019 NBA Draft.

The Thunder originally had the 21st overall pick but, traded down and ended up picking at No. 23. They also got a 2024 second round pick, according to ESPN‘s Adrian Wojnarowski:

The OKC Thunder drafted another long and athletic wing in Darius Bazley. Bazley is a 6’9″ forward with a 7’0″ wingspan. He is able to finish at the rim acrobatically, find cutting players and spread the floor with his ability to shoot.

He will be able to guard multiple positions on defense and his length will help him get steals and blocks. The defensive end is where the Thunder shine, so getting a player like Bazely will improve their defense greatly.

The knock on him is that he is thin. Time in the NBA with more conditioning and lifting will bulk him up though. He’s also mistake prone, but he’s young, so that could just be youth. Again, time in the NBA will fix that.

Bazley skipped college just like Ferguson so he will also take some time to develop, but this pick will end up being rewarding if he’s able to pan out.

The Thunder have picked long and athletic players in the past three drafts. The first one was 2017 with Terrance Ferguson. Then came Hamidou Diallo in 2018, and now in 2019 Darius Bazley fits the same mold.

Just like the two wings drafted before him, Bazley may not get a lot of playing time in his first year, but as the years go by he should be slowly worked into more minutes.

Bazley did not have a conventional journey to the NBA. He was going to go to Syracuse and then the G League, but he decided instead to work out on his own. He was able to work with different trainers and coaches that helped him put on some weight and become a first round pick.

Most players don’t decide to not play any organized basketball for that year. They either play overseas, in college or in the G League.

The OKC Thunder will have to a lot more time with him than they would spend with other players due to his inexperience, and the fact that he didn’t play any basketball for a year doesn’t help either.

This pick wasn’t a great pick when you look at the facts. Bazley hasn’t played basketball in a year. He was very inconsistent when he did play. Finally, he is very thin. His body hasn’t matured enough to play in the NBA yet. They could have used this pick on a shooter.

On the other hand, this pick isn’t a bad one either. While Bazley will take more work, it has proven to work for the Thunder when drafting these types of players. Down the road, these three wings have the potential to become valuable role players.

This was another potential pick by the Thunder. We’ll have to wait and see if this one pans out.

Grade: C