Kent Bazemore

Kent Bazemore
SG - 6’5, 201lbs - 28 years old - 6 years of experience

With the big contract comes big responsibility, and in 2016/17, Bazemore did not live up to it. He couldn’t - one does not simply develop high quality ball-handling, shot creation and shooting skills simply because a contract size would best suit it.

This season, however, saw improvements. Bazemore shot better from three-point range, a career-high 39.4%, and shot particularly well when catching and shooting. The pull-up twos started to go in a bit more often, too, and while the floater needs to go (and the overly ambitious passes out of pick-and-roll sets even more so), Bazemore was a much improved playmaker. He moved the ball, created his own jumpers off the dribble, hit enough to justify it, and made pick-and-roll plays better than before.

Defensively, too, he also got back to being a pest. On an overall poor defensive team, he was an enthused presence at both guard spots. How much of this came from having Dennis Schroeder just stand there on defence next to him thereby making him looking better is a valid question. But the metrics are favourable, and the ball pressure obvious.

At this point, if he does that again, the contract is no longer painfully oversized. It is a lot to live up to, to be sure, and going into next season, Bazemore will be a 29-year-old defensive specialist who should really be a three-and-D player, pressed into a secondary ballhandling role by circumstance rather than ability. Nevertheless, sufficient is the ability to make him movable, and a decent bit of help until that time.

And if he does stay, there is quite a bit to be osmosed from his style of play and effort level on the younger wings around him.

Player Plan: Two years and $37,359,549 remaining, the final year of which is a player option it should be assumed he will exercise. The contract is big, but the value is increasing, and will continue to do so as it shortens. And besides, it is not as though it is currently getting in the way of anything. Plan to keep Bazemore for the duration of it as a good player and on-court leader, with an ear open for deals. It’s the kind of deal a Cleveland team with LeBron might want, for example.

Kent Bazemore
SG, 6’5, 201lbs, 27 years old, 5 years of experience

Now that he is very pricy, with a circa $18.1 million per annual cost over the next three years, it should follow that he develops into a more all-around, impactful player going forward. But he doesn’t have the talent to do so. Bazemore has some talent, yet it is that of an irritating defender, transition player, corner three-point shooter and occasional slasher benefitting from ball movement and good spacing, not that of a focal point. He just does not have the ball skills, poise or ability to make shots off the dribble to be so. It is simply a bad contract, one prohibitive to the medium and long term planning of the team, and one that should be moved if possible.

Player Plan: Three years and $54,269,662 remaining. Final year is a player option it should be assumed he will exercise. Look to move, as this contract is an obstacle to the fu-ture barring improvements to his own game that he does not seem likely to make.

Golden State - Kent Bazemore: Bazemore struggled early in the season, taking shots he couldn't make, proving he couldn't hit them, and showing no ability to even bring the ball up against pressure. However, when reverting to his usual disruptive athletic defensive and full court presence, Bazemore has been occasionally effective, and still has a place on a competitive team.

ODU are led by 6'5 guard Kent Bazemore, the CAA's defensive player of the year, who is a seriously improved player. Formerly a defensive specialist with questionable offensive skills other than a decent pull-up long two point jumpshot, Bazemore has shown considerable offensive improvements, and now, with the departure of Gerald Lee, has become a primary playmaker. Bazemore is second on the team in scoring at 12.5 points per game, is third in steals (2.9apg), and the only reason his 5.0 rebounds ranks a mere fourth on the team is because of just how good of a rebounding team ODU are. Bazemore is athletic, confident, energetic, lefty and smiley, who has considerably improved his handle, three point shot (now up to 37%) and offensive efficiency. He does some of everything for his team, not least of which is his fine perimeter defense, where his good hands and great effort see him average 2.3 steals per game. Maybe one day, he'll hit his free throws.