The Oklahoma City Thunder held their annual exit interviews on Saturday following the squad’s final game of the season. Ousmane Dieng took the podium for his last interview as a rookie. In his first campaign, Dieng showed promise but looked about as expected as a project prospect.
As a first-year player, the 11th overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft dealt with adversity. His Summer League was cut short by a wrist injury. Then, he suffered another long-term wrist injury following his best NBA game which was unrelated to the one in the summer. Eventually, he ended on a high note going for 22 points, eight rebounds, nine assists, a steal, and a block in his final game.
The Oklahoma City Thunder will continue to develop Ousmane Dieng, who announced he will attend NBA Summer League in July.
Ousmane Dieng averaged five points, two rebounds, and an assist per game while shooting 42 percent from the floor and 26 percent from beyond the arc. At the rim, Dieng sot 74 percent, which ranked in the 86th percentile for his position according to cleaning the glass. He continued to improve his aggressiveness at the rack throughout the season.
But Dieng got less run in the NBA through injuries and G-League development. The Thunder were better than expected, and the team played games of consequence throughout the season.
So it adds up that a second-year forward at that time would head to Vegas for more NBA Summer League time this offseason. Dieng confirmed as much at exit interviews, saying, “Yeah, I think so” when asked about the possibility of him playing this summer.
This might not b the only summer competition for Ousmane Dieng, as the FIBA World Cup is on deck later this Summer. However, Dieng told us he would love to participate for France if given the opportunity.