The Brooklyn Nets' offseason moves signal a team with a shifting timeline and mindset. The Nets swapped out aging shooters and defensive liabilities in Joe Harris, Patty Mills and Seth Curry for young, versatile athletes in Dennis Smith Jr., Lonnie Walker IV and Darius Bazley.
Bazley, the latest Nets free agent signing, pointed to that athleticism and defensive versatility when speaking on what he'll bring to Brooklyn:
“Being able to match-up one through four, one through five, guard bigger wings and guard smaller guards as well. I'm looking forward to that,” he said Thursday. “And then offensively, just getting my athleticism into the game, being a knock-down shooter and just having fun playing.”
After deciding to skip college in favor of the G-League, Bazley took an unconventional route to the NBA, agreeing to a three-month internship with New Balance that paid him $1 million. After spending that post-grad year training, the forward was selected 23rd overall in the 2019 draft. He started 108 games for the Thunder from 2020-2022, averaging 12.1 points and 6.7 rebounds on 41/29/70 shooting splits.
While he struggled to crack Oklahoma City's rotation last season, playing a career-low 15.4 minutes per game over 36 appearances before being traded to Phoenix, the 23-year-old still showed flashes of two-way capability:
With his sights set on a fresh NBA opportunity, Brooklyn's shift towards youth and athleticism caught Bazley's eye following the Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving trades last season:
“The young core, with also a veteran presence as well. Just watching them in the playoffs,” he said when asked what attracted him to the Nets. “The new team they had towards the end here, just watching them. They looked like they had fun; they looked like they played hard and together.”
“It was just something I wanted to be a part of.”
With the Nets' logjam on the wing, Bazley's minutes will likely come in the frontcourt. He played sparingly at the five last season with the Thunder missing a backup center behind Jaylin Williams. At 6-foot-9 with a seven-foot wingspan, Bazley's ball handling and semblance of a three-point shot (31 percent for his career) could prove valuable alongside Ben Simmons in a change-of-pace center role.
And while Bazley would ideally like to play on the wing, he said he can impact the game in whatever role necessary:
“I don't like to limit myself because I do like to think of myself as versatile, but ideally I'm on the wing being able to play off the catch, get out in transition off the dribble,” he said. “But I feel like at the end of the day, I'm a basketball player, so just me being on the floor, I'm gonna find a way to bring something to the game.”
Bazley's one-year, vet minimum deal is non-guaranteed with a $200,000 opening night trigger and a $700,000 mid-December trigger, according to Sportrac. The contract will be fully guaranteed on January 10.
The newest Net said he's excited to bring his game to New York as he battles to carve out a role in the NBA:
“This is like the Mecca of basketball,” Bazley said. “So just playing in front of fans that appreciate the game, that love the game of basketball, love the sport.”
“I think it'd be really fun.”
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