Young OKC Thunder Forward Facing Crucial Stretch Before Trade Deadline

Oklahoma City’s depth has been a massive strength, but it also forces the team to make difficult decisions.

In the 2022 NBA Draft, the Thunder had one of the best draft classes imaginable. Most notably, they took Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren, who both look destined to be multi-time All-Stars. Jaylin Williams came to Oklahoma City in the second round and has been a solid backup center since starting as a rookie. While those players’ future paths are rather predictable, the Thunder’s fourth piece of that draft class has been nothing but a question mark throughout his career.

Ousmane Dieng is in his third season with the Thunder and has yet to consistently break into Mark Daigneault’s rotation in his career. After winning the 2024 G League Finals MVP, it appeared Dieng was set to take a leap and maybe perform well enough to become a key player for the Thunder.

Instead, he has only played in 24 of the team’s 44 games this season and has gotten minimal playing time in his appearances. Dieng’s season-high is only 21 minutes, and he is also having the worst shooting season of his short career.

Drafted as a project at No. 11 in 2022, Dieng’s path to being a core player was never going to be simple or short. However, the Thunder’s rapid ascension to contention has deprioritized Dieng’s development.

The Thunder have already picked up Dieng’s option for the 2025-26 season, but his chances of playing next season in Oklahoma City could be dwindling. The Thunder have another five games before the Feb. 6 trade deadline, and it could be the most critical five-game stretch of Dieng’s career.

As the Thunder could be navigating that stretch without Isaiah Hartenstein or Chet Holmgren, Dieng might be thrust into playing more, given his 6-foot-10 frame. Across this stretch, the Thunder will play in Portland and then have four matchups against teams vying for playoff positioning.

A solid performance in Portland would be encouraging, but his ability to contribute against some of the teams that Oklahoma City could match up against in the first round will be far more telling. Not only do the Thunder have a dilemma with finding a standard roster spot for Ajay Mitchell come playoff time, Branden Carlson has played well in his short stints on the floor and could be in the running for one of the final 15 spots as well.

Dieng won’t find the necessary playing time with the Thunder to find his full potential, whatever that may be. With the Thunder safely at the top of the West and likely contending for championships for years to come, Dieng simply has to be a contributor to be worth a roster spot.

With so many draft picks still coming in over the next few years, Dieng needs to have an impressive stretch of games or his time in Oklahoma City could be over sooner than anticipated.

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