Oklahoma City Thunder: 3 reasons Darius Bazley was a bad pick

With the 23rd pick in the NBA Draft, the Oklahoma City Thunder selected Darius Bazley. Here is why that pick was a bad one.

The Oklahoma City Thunder were said to not even want to draft a player on Thursday night because of their crippling cap problems. They ended up picking Darius Bazley with the 23rd pick in the draft.

OKC moved down to pick him in a deal with the Memphis Grizzlies. They originally had the 20th pick but traded down three spots to select him. The deal was part of the 17 completed on draft night, a record number over the last five years.

Bazley is an interesting prospect because he didn’t play any organized basketball in his one year before going to the NBA. Originally slated to play in the G League, he ditched that option to work on his game while serving as a three-month intern at New Balance.

This is not a conventional way to the NBA and it is part of the reason that this pick was not a good one for a Thunder team in need of tangible production right now. OKC should have gone a different route in this draft but they have picked players like him in recent drafts. With the success of those players, there is hope for Bazley.