OKC Thunder: Projecting the team’s top 6 scorers for 2020-21

Hamidou Diallo

Hamidou Diallo is heading into his third NBA season.

The 22-year-old former slam dunk champ will finally get a real chance to show his skillset.

Diallo played sparingly his rookie year and almost doubled his minutes as a second-year player.

During Sam Presti and new Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault‘s media availability, they praised Diallo’s ability to work for a role in the rotation.

They also mentioned how he had been held back by some injuries, and that they believe in Diallo and are expecting big things from the 6-10 wing from Kentucky.

Diallo improved his production from his rookie to sophomore year due mostly to him having more time on the court. It can be assumed Diallo’s role will increase once again, the question is will his production increase with an even larger role.

Obviously, the OKC Thunder would like Diallo’s scoring to jump, however, they are probably more concerned with Diallo’s development as a defender and as a ball-handler.

Diallo has a problem of making a great play on the defensive end and then trying to do too much after making the play. Hami will rush a shot in transition or get in too big of a hurry and make a bad decision.

With more opportunities, Diallo can look to get better at flowing in the offense and making better decisions. If he were able to do that he could improve his scoring and offensive upside.

Hami averaged almost seven points a game last season, and if he was improved offensively and could maybe even shoot the ball a little better than 28 percent from three he could jump to 11 or 12 points per game.