Tag: Darius Bazley

HoopsHype: Where Thunder players went in 2019 NBA re-draft

The @HoopsHype staff decided to conduct a re-draft for the 2019 draft, here’s where Thunder players from that class went:

It has been nearly four years since the 2019 NBA draft took place, which means plenty of time has passed to look back upon the class with proper hindsight.

The HoopsHype staff decided recently to conduct a re-draft of the class, including players that went undrafted.

As a quick reminder, the Oklahoma City Thunder were fresh off a disappointing first-round exit at the hands of the Portland Trail Blazers.

The draft took place a couple of weeks before the Thunder shocked the NBA world and blew up the core headlined by Russell Westbrook and Paul George.

While the Thunder technically drafted Brandon Clarke, his rights were immediately sent to the Memphis Grizzlies. In terms of actual drafted player who ended up with the Thunder, Darius Bazley was the lone selection.

However, the Thunder did find an undrafted gem, Lu Dort, who has played his way into being a key piece of the current rebuild.

Let’s take a look at where current Thunder players went in the 2019 re-draft.

Player grades: Team effort leads Thunder past Bulls in 124-110 win

Player grades for the Thunder’s 124-110 win over the Bulls.

It felt like fatigue started to set in for the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Playing on the second night of a road back-to-back and the third game in four nights, the Thunder — who are usually money in the third quarter — struggled coming out of halftime.

The Thunder ultimately pulled away and won their game against the Chicago Bulls, 124-110. But that didn’t happen without overcoming some adversity.

The Bulls closed out the third quarter on a 28-11 run in the final 10 minutes. After the Thunder went up 80-62 in the opening two second-half minutes, they ran out of juice. The extended Bulls run turned it into a one-point game by the start of the fourth quarter.

It felt like this game was going to come down to the final possessions and likely conclude with a duel between Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Zach LaVine. The two superstar scoring guards for each team.

Instead, by the time Gilgeous-Alexander checked back into the fourth quarter at the 4:39 mark, OKC’s lead grew from one point to 10 points.

The non-SGA lineup, led by Josh Giddey and Jalen Williams, outscored the Bulls 17-8 in the first seven minutes of the quarter.

This seven-minute stretch highlighted the type of young depth the Thunder roster. They are no longer a franchise who solely relies on elite talent to bail them out like previous iterations.

The Thunder not only held their own, but actually grew their lead with their All-Star on the bench and afforded him an extended period of rest.

What a luxury to have.

The Thunder continue to be maestros with the basketball, scoring 124 points in regulation on 47-of-92 (51.1%) from the field. This included going 11-of-33 (33.3%) from 3. From the free-throw line, the Thunder shot an impressive 19-of-22 (86.4%).

The small Thunder also dominated the Bulls inside, outscoring them 64-44 in the paint.

All 10 players who checked in for the Thunder scored at least three points. Nobody took more than 18 shots. It was a well-balanced offensive attack that displayed OKC’s depth and synergy.

Since the 150 point explosion against the Boston Celtics, the Thunder are suddenly an offensive juggernaut.

In their last seven games of that stretch, the Thunder are averaging 125.7 points on 50.1% shooting and 26.9 assists. From outside, the Thunder are shooting 40.3% from 3 on 34.7 attempts.

For the Bulls, Zach LaVine struggled to make an impact. While LaVine scored 25 points, he also went an inefficient 5-of-19 from the field. LaVine did most of his scoring at the free-throw line, going 14-of-15 with 11 of those attempts occurring in the fourth quarter.

Nikola Vucevic also recorded a double-double of 19 points and 11 rebounds. Patrick Williams scored 11 of his 18 points in the third quarter. Coby White finished with 19 points off the bench.

The young Thunder had every reason to lose this game as it felt like a scheduled loss. Instead, they continue to show the rest of the league that they’re knocking on the door a lot sooner than most anticipate.

With the win, the Thunder are suddenly just half a game back from the 10th-seeded Phoenix Suns. It feels like the tides have turned during this road back-to-back. After being projected to have high lottery odds, perhaps it’s time to discuss the Thunder as a serious playoff contender.

Let’s take a look at Thunder player grades.

Player grades: Thunder comeback attempt spoiled by Tyler Herro in 110-108 loss to Heat

The Thunder had a poor final 25 seconds in their 110-108 loss to the Heat.

OKLAHOMA CITY — The Oklahoma City Thunder were unable to snap their three-game losing streak as the Miami Heat escaped with a second consecutive road win, 110-108.

As was the case for the Thunder in their loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Monday, the 3-point shot was the Heat’s friend on Wednesday. Overall, the Heat went 24-of-56 (42.9%) from outside, but most of their damage was done in the first half when they shot 16-of-29 (55.2%) — a franchise record for the Heat.

Trailing by as many as 21 points, the Thunder appeared headed to a rare blowout loss. But after halftime, the Thunder limited the Heat’s damage from outside; they went 8-of-27 (29.6%) from 3. The Thunder used a 32-22 third-quarter advantage to make it a competitive contest that came down to the final possessions.

Which deserves its own article if we’re being honest. Because oh boy — did a lot transpire in the final 25 seconds of this one.

With 25.1 seconds left, Tyler Herro took up the Jimmy Butler role and was given the chance to win the game for the Heat. As he began to drain the clock with a series of dribbles, Herro worked his way to the right side of the court and hit a contested 19-foot pull-up jumper despite Aaron Wiggins being on his grill.

The shot quieted the crowd. The Thunder had 5.1 seconds to work with to either send the game to overtime or win on a buzzer beater.

Instead, what transpired was a Shai Gilgeous-Alexander missed shot with questionable contact that went uncalled and a Josh Giddey reverse layup that ended with him on the ground too.

By the time the game clock hit 0.0, Gilgeous-Alexander and Giddey were both on the ground petitioning for a shooting foul.

Alas, the refs bit their tongue and the Heat escaped with the two-point win as the crowd began to boo the officials. Victor Oladipo tackled Herro and the Heat celebrated a close win without their best player.

After the game, Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault refused to blame the officials and said the crew is too experienced to question their competency.

“Here’s what I’ll say about that. In all honesty, Ed (Malloy), Brent (Barnaky), Leon (Wood) — those guys have done (over) 3,000 career games and have done 175 playoff games. And we do not get crews like that.

“That’s probably the most experienced, seasoned, trustworthy crew that we’ve had all year. And it’s one of the most trustworthy crews and experienced crews that we’ve had in two years. And I’m not going to complain about them one bit because we’ll take a crew of that experience level, we’ll take every night. We’ll take them again Friday. We’ll take them again Saturday. And they’re always going to miss plays, but you can’t replace having a steady hand on the game. I appreciate that — especially the last couple of years. I hope they’re here again Friday.”

In the end, the Thunder failed to complete the comeback and lost to the Heat, 110-108 and their losing streak extends to four games.

For the Heat, Herro led the way as he scored 35 points on 12-of-23 shooting and an absurd 9-of-17 shooting from 3. Bam Adebayo had 15 points and 13 rebounds. Kyle Lowry had 14 points and six assists.

Let’s take a look at Thunder player grades.

Player grades: Jalen Williams’ career night leads Thunder to 20-point comeback 119-111 win over Spurs

Jalen Williams was the star of the game for the Thunder in their 119-111 win over the Spurs.

It looked like the Oklahoma City Thunder were on their way to arguably their most disappointing losses of the season when they trailed the short-handed and rebuilding San Antonio Spurs by 20 points in the third quarter.

The Spurs entered the game on an eight-game losing streak and a 1-13 record in their last 14 games. With the long list of injuries they had, this should’ve been an easy win for the Thunder.

Instead, the Thunder — missing Shai Gilgeous-Alexander — struggled to contain the Spurs, giving up 77 first-half points to the 29th-ranked offensive rating team in the league.

The second half was a different story though. The Thunder held the Spurs to 34 points — a season-low allowed by the Thunder this season. The Spurs went from shooting 27-of-42 (64.3%) from the field in the first half to 14-of-50 (28%) in the second half.

Such a stark contrast in offense gave the Thunder plenty of time to mount a comeback and that’s exactly what happened as they outscored the Spurs 59-34 in the second half.

Rookie wing Jalen Williams led the way. He played the best game of his young career in terms of points and timely baskets. Williams did his best SGA impersonation in the second half as the go-to scorer. Lu Dort and Josh Giddey also chipped in.

For the Spurs, Devin Vassell finished with 25 points and outside marksmen Keldon Johnson, who entered the game shooting 36.5% from outside on 8.4 attempts, was held to 19 points on 5-of-22 shooting and 4-of-13 shooting from outside.

Let’s take a look at Thunder player grades from this 119-111 win over the Spurs.

Player grades: Thunder snap three-game losing streak in 123-119 OT win over Bulls

The Thunder were able to snap a three-game losing streak in an OT win over the Bulls.

The Oklahoma City Thunder were finally able to overcome their fourth quarter and overtime woes in a 123-119 win over the Chicago Bulls.

Entering the game, the Thunder were ranked 28th in net rating in the fourth quarter, being outscored by 12.9 points per 100 possessions. It felt like the Thunder were going to exorcise their fourth-quarter demons in the opening minutes of the final 12-minute frame.

The Thunder were up by 10 points with eight minutes remaining in the game. Then, just like a lot of Thunder games this season, the Bulls made their run to close the deficit.

In the final eight minutes of regulation, the Bulls finished on a 23-15 run to give the Thunder home crowd flashbacks to their last game. As soon as the Thunder lead felt comfortable, the Bulls were able to methodologically work their way back into the game.

Zach LaVine scored 12 points in the final 12 minutes of the game and was able to force overtime.

It was deja vu for Thunder fans this season: the young squad was able to surprisingly catch a team off guard and grow a lead before eventually squandering it late in the game.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander wouldn’t let that result in another loss though as he scored 11 of his 30 points in the final 17 minutes of the game. After not being able to score against the Denver Nuggets in their last overtime game, Gilgeous-Alexander was not going to repeat history.

The biggest moment of the game came with 27.1 seconds left in overtime.

After Gilgeous-Alexander was able to bait veteran DeMar DeRozan into fouling him from beyond the perimeter, he was able to hit all three free throws for the go-ahead points.

“When I seen the shot clock that low, I knew I was going to try to shoot a three, so I tried to set him up,” said Gilgeous-Alexander.

With MVP chants growing louder by the free-throw attempt, Gilgeous-Alexander was able to seal the deal at the charity stripe.

With the win, the Thunder were able to snap a three-game losing streak and give former head coach Billy Donovan a parting gift of another loss.

For the Bulls, their star trio led the way. DeRozan scored 30 points with half of those points coming in the fourth quarter and overtime. LaVine scored 27 points. Nikola Vucevic finished with 13 points and 13 rebounds.

Let’s take a look at Thunder player grades.

Player grades: Isaiah Joe late heroics push Thunder to overtime comeback 117-111 win over Mavs

A creative late-game sub headlined the Thunder’s comeback win against the Mavs.

The Oklahoma City Thunder needed a spark.

Trailing the Dallas Mavericks by 16 points with roughly five minutes left in the game, it appeared that the Thunder mudded the game as much as they could before Dallas’ talent eventually took over and pulled away.

Then Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault went with an unconventional move of pulling Isaiah Joe off of his bench to see if his outside shooting could give the offense enough juice.

Joe — who wasn’t even on the Thunder roster to start preseason — played the final nine minutes of regulation and overtime and wrote himself into Thunder folklore with a 15-point performance that included going a perfect 4-of-4 from deep.

Daigneault has preached all season long about how there is no set rotation and that anybody could truly play on any given night. It’s an old coach cliche but Daigneault has walked the walk with that mindset so far. Saturday night was the peak of this as Joe came in late and helped lead the Thunder to an unlikely win.

The only way the Thunder had a shot to win this game was to force the Mavericks to play down to their level and force them to play an ugly brand of physical basketball.

It’s fair to say the Thunder were able to achieve this as the Maverick — who entered the night as the best offensive rating team in the league at 122.3 points scored per 100 possession — finished with 111 points and shot 40 percent from the field and 20 percent from three.

Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic scored 31 points, but it came on 8-of-23 shooting and 15-of-19 from the free-throw line.

With such an eventful and fun game, there are several players to hand out grades. Let’s take a look at four Thunder players who stuck out the most in the third win in as many games.

Thunder decline to give Darius Bazley a rookie extension, will enter restricted free agency next summer

The Thunder had until 5 p.m. CT to sign Darius Bazley to a contract extension.

The NBA rookie extension deadline has come and gone.

This means Oklahoma City Thunder forward Darius Bazley will enter the season without long-term security.

The Thunder had until 5 p.m. CT to extend Bazley to a second contract. Monday, Oct. 17 was the deadline for first-round rookies from the 2019 NBA draft to receive an extension.

Bazley will enter next offseason as a restricted free agent, which means other teams could sign him to an offer sheet and the Thunder would have 48 hours to match it.

Considering Bazley’s inconsistent play in his three seasons with the Thunder, it’s not too surprising to see the Thunder pass on an extension.

The Thunder notoriously seldom play the restricted free agency game with their players. If they like someone well enough, they extend them before they reach RFA.

With Bazley not receiving a deal, it feels like his Thunder tenure is coming to a close one way or another.

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Monday Thunder practice notes: Mark Daigneault, Josh Giddey, Isaiah Joe

Recapping the biggest takeaways from the Thunder’s Monday practice.

The Oklahoma City Thunder held practice on Monday and it was one of the more eventful ones yet.

Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault, Josh Giddey and newcomer Isaiah Joe spoke with the media following their practice.

On the practice floor, shooting coach Chip Engelland gave Jeremiah Robinson-Earl some pointers and Darius Bazley — who is eligible for a rookie extension until the end of the day — was spotted talking to Thunder general manager Sam Presti.

Let’s take a look at some of the more noteworthy quotes and paraphrases from Monday’s practice as the team prepares to open their 2022-23 regular season against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Jersey numbers revealed for OKC Thunder rookies

Find out what the jersey numbers are for the four Thunder rookies and which current player decided to change his number.

The Oklahoma City Thunder announced the jersey numbers for the four rookies selected in Thursday’s 2022 NBA draft on Friday.

Chet Holmgren will wear #7.

Ousmane Dieng will wear #13.

Jalen Williams will wear #8.

Jaylin Williams will wear #6.

Forward Darius Bazley, who is entering his fourth season with the team, also changed his jersey number from #7 to #55 — likely to accommodate Holmgren’s jersey number request.

Thunder general manager Sam Presti and the four rookies will hold their introductory press conference with the media on Saturday, June 25 at 3 p.m. CT.

The rookies will likely receive their new jerseys at the end of the presser for a photoshoot.

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OKC Thunder quotes: Sam Presti talks about potential extensions for Lu Dort, Darius Bazley

“I feel like those guys are pretty invested in what we’re trying to accomplish. We’ll just work through it and do it in a way that hopefully can work for everybody if that’s possible, great, otherwise we’ll wait and get it the following year.”

Oklahoma City Thunder general manager Sam Presti mentioned during his exit interview on Monday that he will talk to Lu Dort and Darius Bazley about potential rookie extensions but mention that there is no urgency to get a contract done this offseason.

“We’ll definitely have a conversation on that. I don’t know when that will — those conversations will really kind of pick up, but we will have some different options,” said Presti. “I don’t want to get into all of them, but the most important thing in those situations is trying to understand like where everybody is coming from and you need to work together. That’s always been my experience on any of those situations.”

Presti brought up how the team wants their payroll to stay relatively clean heading into the 2023 offseason due to a potential new CBA agreement between the NBA and NBPA.

“Both of those guys are lined up where money would hit ’23, so we don’t have — I think we’ll kind of take each one of those separately and see what happens, but they’re great. They’re both great guys, and I want them to — I want to hear what they’re thinking, and I need them to understand, we have to also balance the interest of the team, as well,” said Presti. “But I feel like those guys are pretty invested in what we’re trying to accomplish. We’ll just work through it and do it in a way that hopefully can work for everybody if that’s possible, great, otherwise we’ll wait and get it the following year.”

During their respective exit interviews, both Dort and Bazley played it safe when asked about a potential contract extension this summer, saying that they’ll defer those talks with those agents and are just focused on improving this summer.

Dort is under contract for $1.9 million next season under a team option that will likely get picked up; if no deal is met, Dort will be an unrestricted free agent in the 2023 offseason. Bazley is under contract for $4.3 million next season and can be offered a qualifying offer for the 2023-24 season that is worth $6.2 million if the Thunder choose to go down that route. If not, then Bazley could enter restricted free agency in the 2023 offseason if a new deal is not agreed upon.

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