Ex-Jazz player Darius Bazley signs with team overseas

After his brief time with the Utah Jazz, both in the regular season and in Summer League, Darius Bazley will continue his professional basketball career overseas.

Shortly after ex-Jazzman Talen Horton-Tucker signed a training camp deal with the Bulls, Bazley was the next Jazzman to go, as he will play for the Guangdong Tigers in the Chinese Basketball Association, which they announced themselves via Instagram.

Bazley is not the only former NBA player who will head to China. Will Barton, who played for the Trail Blazers, Nuggets, and Wizards, will be Bazley's teammate.

Bazley started his career with the Thunder in 2019. In fact, at one point, he averaged 13.7 points a game, though it was for a Thunder team that every intention of losing. As the Thunder kept progressing, Bazley's role kept regressing, going from 31.2 minutes a game to 15.4.

After brief stints with the Suns and 76ers, the Jazz signed Bazley at the tail-end of the 2023-24 season. Though his time with the Jazz in the regular season didn't last too long, they then brought Bazley in for the Summer League.

Jazz waived Darius Bazley in July

Though hardly unexpected, the Jazz waived Bazley not too long after the Summer League ended. Utah waived both him and Kenny Lofton Jr., who they also signed at the end of the regular season and brought in for Summer League.

Waiving them helped the Jazz save money, plus it wasn't like the Jazz were going to miss them much. They already had plenty invested in their other young players, so there wasn't much need to develop the likes of Bazley and Lofton.

Bazley may get another chance in the NBA soon enough as is. For the time being, he'll have to resume his career in China. There have been several NBA players who have had to go overseas before they came back to the NBA.

Look no further than Dante Exum, who spent two years overseas before becoming a rotation player on the Mavericks, who went on to make the NBA Finals.

It's not a guarantee that Bazley will have a similar comeback, but it's not too late for him.