The Utah Jazz and the Salt Lake City Stars can make history by selecting Darius Bazley No. 1 overall in the upcoming G-League Draft.
Darius Bazley didn’t break any scoring records during Sunday’s Jordan Brand Classic. That distinction belonged to LSU commit Emmitt Williams, who dropped 44 points on 22-of-23 shooting.
Nevertheless, the talent that made him the eighth-ranked prospect in the nation (per 247) and a five-star college recruit was apparent in his 12-point, nine-rebound performance at the showcase. That talent could be coming to the Utah Jazz’s G-League affiliate, the Salt Lake City Stars, this fall.
Last week, the Stars were officially awarded the top pick in the upcoming G-League Draft. And the opportunity to make history while developing a highly regarded talent could be hard for Jazz GM Dennis Lindsey and Stars’ VP of basketball ops Bart Taylor to pass up.
Bazley is attempting to do something no one has done before. Instead of taking his game to Syracuse and the NCAA, the 17-year-old has decided that the NBA’s developmental league will provide him with the best entry point to basketball’s highest level.
While one-and-done continues to be the standard for prospects contending with the league’s age limit, it’s not the end-all. Two years ago, Oklahoma City Thunder wing Terrance Ferguson opted to play a year in the Australian NBL.
Meanwhile, Emmanuel Mudiay of the New York Knicks and the Milwaukee Bucks’ Brandon Jennings famously did time in China and Italy, respectively.
Bazley will be the first to go the G-League route. His decision to do so made waves around the hoops blogosphere, but for the Princeton High (Ohio) product, it just made sense.
From his recent piece for The Players’ Tribune —
"In a lot of ways it seemed like a cool opportunity to progress as a player in ways I probably couldn’t in a college setting. Instead of taking intro classes and going to parties, I’d spend every day battling for minutes against seasoned professionals. I had to pick between being a freshman or spending a year in an organization full of people all sharing one focus: Finding a way to get to the NBA."
He didn’t want to be a one-and-done with @Cuse_MBB, so top recruit @BazleyDarius is headed straight for the @NBAGleague out of high school. https://t.co/niHYLq0JVT pic.twitter.com/DfUDzTYPhB
— The Players' Tribune (@PlayersTribune) April 5, 2018
Above all else, getting to the league is the goal. Bazley knows that development is the key to that goal and the G-League can help foster it.
In addition to his all-around game, Bazley has size at 6-foot-9 and length with a wingspan approaching seven feet. Fine-tuning his skills and bulking up — he currently checks in around 190 pounds — will be crucial to becoming the wing force and small-ball four many envision him to be.
At Princeton, he averaged 15 points,10 boards and two blocks per game as a senior. If he hadn’t missed his team’s final two games, he may have a state championship to his credit. But there’s still work left to do and Bazley knows it.
As a G-Leaguer, he’ll have access to NBA-level coaching, conditioning and facilities to help make it all happen.
Given the trail-blazing nature of Bazley’s decision, it’s hard to project where this new path will ultimately take him. And he’s not taking it without some level of sacrifice, either.
Fellow Orange recruit Jalen Carey told Syracuse.com “he’s going to miss something big next year.” He’s not wrong; Bazley will never play for Hall of Fame coach Jim Boeheim or punch a ticket to the Final Four.
What he will do, though, is make history. Perhaps even establish a blueprint for NBA hopefuls more interested in the next step than an obligatory year on campus.
On the Jazz front, there’s also no guarantee he’ll ever find his way to the main roster, even if the Stars do draft him. The team picked former San Antonio Spurs big man Jeff Ayres No. 1 overall in 2015, but he went on to join the LA Clippers.
If Bazley develops as he hopes, Lindsey & Co. would have to contend with other teams for his services.
That said, the ability to get the first glimpse at a potential blue-chipper and make history in the process is right up the Jazz organization’s alley.
Simply put: the Darius Bazley experience is likely coming to Salt Lake City.