Thunder Rookie Ousmane Dieng Has Flashed Tremendous Upside This Season

All is quiet for Oklahoma City Thunder’s prized first-round pick, Ousmane Dieng. You won’t see a lot of chatter about the 6-foot-10 forward right now due to a recent wrist injury keeping him on the sidelines, but it won’t stay that way for long. When healthy, the prospect from France is showing glimpses of what could be an incredible NBA career.

After being selected as the No. 11 overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, it seems that Dieng is improving at a relatively rapid rate. Sure, the statistics show he’s averaging just 4.4 points per game in the NBA, but there is no denying that the young athlete is picking up the game just fine.

Dieng, a prospect lauded for his defensive potential and questioned for his offensive potential, is already impacting games on both ends of the floor. When called upon, Dieng’s size, length, and athleticism give him the ability to bother ball handlers on the perimeter, deny passing lanes, and help protect the rim.

And on the offensive end, he’s showing he can do a little bit of everything in spurts, including running pick-and-rolls, hitting spot-up 3-pointers, and using his long arms to finish at the rim. Don’t be fooled by his overall offensive statistics, though.

In Dieng’s first five games, he knocked down just four of his 23 field goal attempts. But in his last nine games, the rookie is shooting 51.2% from the floor and 37.5% from 3-point land (on 2.7 attempts) in just over 17 minutes of action. In that span, he’s also posting a 1.7/0.7 assist-to-turnover ratio, highlighting his ability to find his teammates in the right spots.

Dieng ended his last game on a high note, too, before suffering a fracture in his right wrist. In a road game versus the Atlanta Hawks, Dieng poured in a career-high 15 points on eight shots, including three triples, in just 18 minutes.

This is just the tip of the iceberg for the rookie. Dieng is the seventh youngest player in the NBA currently and has an incredibly low usage rate of 12.3% at this junction. As Dieng develops, the Thunder coaching staff should give him a little more rope to make plays, leaving one wondering what he might look like with a usage rate that is closer to 20%.

Fans are already getting glimpses of what Dieng can do when given that rope. In the G League, Dieng is posting 16.4 points, 8.6 rebounds, and 4.2 assists per 36 minutes in his 11 games played with the Oklahoma City Blue. He’s shooting it efficiently, too. In those games, he’s hit 45.3% of his shots from the field, 34.3% on over six 3-point attempts a game, and converted 70% of his free throws.

Barring any setbacks, Dieng is set to return in about six weeks. And while the Thunder will surely take every precaution necessary to protect Dieng’s health, they should also find him plenty of playing time and developmental reps later this season.

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