In late March, five-star high school basketball prospect Darius Bazley made big news in declaring his intention to skip college in favor of a year in the NBA G League. The former Syracuse commitment wasn’t the first prep prospect to seize a path that didn’t include college basketball but, at the time, no player with the pedigree of Bazley had chosen the G League as his barrier to entry and that made for an intriguing storyline.
However, Bazley spoke to Shams Charania of The Athletic this week and indicated that his plan no longer includes the G League, with the talented forward choosing to simply train on his own in preparation for the 2019 NBA Draft. The extensive interview is absolutely worth a full read but Bazley shared part of his rationale, including the fact that NBA agent Rich Paul played a part in the final decision.
“It’s mainly me talking to [agent] Rich [Paul], he knows so much, and whenever he speaks my ears perk up. When Miles [Bridges] was in Cleveland for his predraft workouts, whenever he got a chance to work out in front of NBA teams, I was working out in the gym, too. So that played a part in it, me playing well in those workouts for us to say there’s no upside in the G League. If you play well, it’s expected. If you don’t play well, you’re not NBA-ready. That’s what they’ll say. For me, working out and preparing is the best route.”
In some ways, Bazley’s ultimate choice is understandable, particularly if he does not (as he states) see the “upside in the G League.” It is entirely possible that Bazley could have made a solid impression in playing against professional quality competition but, as he later noted, the situation isn’t always ideal in the G League for a player of his age and talent level.
Bazley would have been subject to the G League Draft upon arrival, giving him very little control over his situation and the team selecting him as part of that process would not have any additional “control” over Bazley after that one season, as he would have entered the 2019 NBA Draft anyway. That may have led to a tenuous situation and Bazley expanded on his view of the G League as an avenue for “one-and-done” prospects.
“The G League is the only league where winning might not be everything. Development is the most important aspect, but guys are playing for the team and at the same time trying to play for themselves. That’s not the type of guy I am. For me in those settings to just get mine, I’ve never been brought up that way. I feel basketball is a team sport and everybody is supposed to eat. In the G League, that’s not the way it is. Everyone is trying to get an opportunity to go to the NBA.”
If nothing else, this is strong spin from Bazley, especially given the fact that doubters will almost certainly come calling in the coming months. It should be noted that Bazley has never been considered a sure-fire lottery pick by any means, with a top-20 national ranking among 2018 high school prospects but not the type of pedigree previously associated with players like even Mitchell Robinson.
Bazley’s initial college choice of Syracuse likely did not help him either, as the Orange deploy a system that is far from ideal in evaluating NBA prospects, leaving some to laud the G League choice simply to escape from that situation. On the down side, NBA scouts will have no ability to accurately scout Bazley in the coming months, as he will be following the route paved by the aforementioned Robinson, using his high school pedigree and pre-draft workouts to garner attention. Beyond that, his most recent public appearance on the court against top competition didn’t go especially well, and that will be the lingering memory for evaluators until next year’s draft workouts.
As we indicated two weeks ago at ESPN (https://t.co/ZwASkDQ9cO), Darius Bazley will not play in the G League. Today confirmed by @ShamsCharania. Unfortunately NBA teams' last look at him at the Nike Basketball Academy, against college players, was a very disappointing one.
— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) August 27, 2018
Unlike Robinson, Bazley does not have the utterly dominant physical tools and it has to be said that Robinson slipped into the second round at least in part due to the anonymity associated with his draft stock. With that said, other players have benefitted from being anonymous in the NBA Draft, with Anfernee Simons slipping into the first round and players like Thon Maker doing the same previously. In support of Bazley’s choice is the situation of Hamidou Diallo, who did land an NBA contract but likely slipped out of the first round by appearing at the college level at Kentucky, rather than using his athletic traits and reputation to jump into the draft out of prep school.
There is no “guaranteed” route of success for Bazley and, if some mock drafts come to fruition, he might be a first round pick in June despite never setting foot on a college or G League floor. It’s definitely an interesting decision, though, and Bazley is shifting from a potential G League pioneer to a path that its own advantages and challenges.
