OKC Thunder: Hamidou Diallo season and contract grades

Contract grade

Diallo is in the second year of his three-year, minimum salary deal. He earned $1.4 million this season and has a team option of $1.6 million next season. Given how well Diallo played this season, it seems only a matter of time before the team exercises his option for 2020-21.

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Diallo has improved on last year and has shown every indication that he will do so again next year. Even though he was injured and missed 17 games, Diallo was still a crucial piece in the OKC Thunder’s surprising success.

If the team does indeed go into a rebuild, then having Diallo earning such a relatively small amount of money is brilliant for the team. He can also be a key piece in a trade which will speed up the Thunder’s rebuild if they decide to go that way.

Contract grade: A+

Season grade

Diallo had a tremendous season both offensively and defensively. He showed that he was able to adapt to playing with two new backcourt players in Chris Paul and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

His explosive play off the bench was quite often the reason why the OKC Thunder was able to gain momentum at the end of the first quarter. His ability to read and steal an inbound pass is just going to get better.

Season Grade – B-