OKC Thunder Media Day: Wing men Terrance Ferguson, Hamidou Diallo detail summer prep

OKC Thunder wings Terrance Ferguson and Hamidou Diallo each discussed their offseason work and Summer League experience during media day.

Terrance Ferguson is a sophomore and Hamidou Diallo is a rookie, both players are young athletic wings for the OKC Thunder. Ferguson is coming off a disappointing showcase at the Las Vegas Summer League. Conversely, Diallo is coming off an impressive Summer League outing. Diallo played well enough he earned a three-year deal with Oklahoma City, the contract contains a team-option in the third year.

The question heading into training camp for these two players is, which one, if either, will play meaningful minutes for the Thunder this season? The Thunder have 14 of 15 roster spots filled, therefore even if T-Ferg and Diallo have a strong training camp and preseason, playing time is no sure thing.

Judging by their responses during Media Day, Diallo seems to be the more likely candidate, due to his humble demeanor. Whereas, Ferguson’s disposition came across a bit cocky. With that, let’s jump into the duo’s best quotes:

What did you takeaway from Summer League?

Ferguson: ‘It was definitely uncomfortable, and at times I was like, I don’t want to do this, but I thought about it, and I felt like to be victorious, you’ve always got to fail.‘

Diallo: ‘At the end of the day, Summer League is Summer League, and it has nothing to do with the real season. Pretty much, not even all the guys that was on Summer League is on a real season team. There’s only like three, four people, so you’ve got to take that into account.’

The difference between the two answers is vast. Ferguson discussed not wanting to participate in Summer League and Diallo explained how Summer League has little to no impact on the regular season. T-Ferg displayed a bit of arrogance, while Diallo provided a simple Thunderesque answer.

*Terrance Ferguson speaks at 1:49 and Hamidou Diallo speaks at 2:05:30 of the video

What is the biggest difference coming into this season vs. your previous year?

Ferguson: ‘Definitely my body, and that’s how I spent my summer, just focusing on my body each and every day, and then also my decision making, making plays for myself, making plays for others, which I worked all summer on with Darko.’

What do you see your role being on this team?

Diallo: ‘I haven’t identified my role with no coaches or anything like that. Just been trying to learn as much as possible and be a sponge for this year. A bunch of veteran guys, a bunch of great players and trying to learn from them and pick up all the good habits that they have.’

Both players game’s mirror each other, but their personalities seem mightily diverse. Diallo displayed classic characteristics of Thunder players. Ferguson showed characteristics of a past Thunder player, such as Cameron Payne.

In Oklahoma City, Sam Presti values a player’s talent as much as their character. Considering, Diallo and Ferguson are virtually equal talents, T-Ferg may want to evaluate his attitude or he could find himself as trade bait later on during the season.