Looking at What a Potential Next Contract Might be for Moussa Diabaté

When the Los Angeles Clippers decided against bringing back Moussa Diabaté in the summer of 2024, they were letting go of a former second-rounder, who averaged 2.7 points on 51.5% from the field during 33 total games.

In short, even the fanbase believed that they were letting go of someone who likely would never turn into an NBA player.

The Clippers subreddit page, r/LAClippers, continued voicing this opinion.

"Maybe you guys just need to stop expecting 2nd round players to be solid role players."

"He's not an NBA player. It's as simple as that. No hate. Wish him the best."

The Charlotte Hornets and their new front office, led by Jeff Peterson, liked Diabaté enough to give him a shot. They already had three bigs on the roster in Mark Williams, Nick Richards, and Taj Gibson, but giving Diabaté a two-way deal was non-guaranteed and not a high-investment.

It's been a little over a year and a half since Peterson made the decision.

In his first season with the Hornets, Moussa beat out all three centers and earned a standard NBA contract. In his second season, he's averaging career-highs across the board with 8.2 points and 8.3 rebounds, and a part of the best starting five in the NBA by net rating.

The Hornets truly found a diamond in the rough with Moussa. He's ninth in the NBA in offensive rebounds per game, first in offensive rebound chances, and the Hornets are hauling in offensive rebounds nine percent better when he is on the court versus when he is off.

Similarly, the team is eight points per one-hundred possessions better than their opponent when Diabaté is on the court than when he is off.

He's 112th in the entire NBA in daily plus-minus, a stat that acts as a smarter plus-minus, but helps filter out the noise. He's higher than players such as Darius Garland, Jalen Duren, Mikal Bridges, Paolo Banchero, and Trey Murphy.

The question begins to turn from how good is Moussa to what will his next contract look like.

Right now, the Hornets' big man is in the second year of a three-year, $5.7 million deal he signed last February, and he's earning $2.27 million this season. The deal is an absolute bargain for the Hornets, but by the summer time, it will be time to pay their young center.

As James Plowright pointed out, the Hornets can only offer a max of 140% of the league average salary, which at this time is approximately $17 million per year. The players currently making that range of money (16-18 million AAV) in the league are: Bogdan Bogdanovic, Jordan Clarkson, Klay Thompson, Kevin Huerter, Keldon Johnson, Patrick Williams, Zach Collins, Andrew Nembhard, Ivica Zubac, Alex Caruso, Lugentz Dort, Santi Aldama, Malik Monk, and Collin Sexton.

It's not out of the question for Moussa to have another excellent season and look to hit free agency to receive a larger deal. However, the $17 million number seems reasonable for the former Michigan star.

The Hornets can offer him a 3-year, $51 million contract with the third year partially guaranteed. The log here is that the Hornets would pay him as a high-end rotation big/low-end starter, and they would want flexibility if he never develops a jump shot. If Moussa can continue to provide elite rebounding and defensive impact, this contract is perfect for him at the moment.

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