The painful part of building a deep roster, especially for the Oklahoma City Thunder, is the necessity of casting off talented players when financial and roster limitations set in.
The most prominent and recent example of this trend is the Thunder's recent trades of Aaron Wiggins and Isaiah Joe to the Atlanta Hawks and Detroit Pistons, respectively, for a grand total of four second-round picks. Because of the lack of leverage they had with incoming second-apron penalties, this is a relatively fair price for two players who will be strong rotational contributors (with starting upside) on other rosters.
For Oklahoma City, though, both players fell out of the playoff rotation. On a roster that deep, it's difficult to make your mark.
The less prominent example from recent months was the trade of Ousmane Dieng to the Charlotte Hornets, who, through a series of trades, wound up on the Milwaukee Bucks for the remainder of the season. While Dieng struggled to put it all together during his time in a Thunder uniform, the 6'9" forward still has moderate upside at the NBA level.
Now, his three-year, $17.5 million extension with the Bucks gives him an NBA lifeline apart from the Thunder, and Dieng now has his chance to carve out a real rotational role in the league.
Free agent forward Ousmane Dieng has agreed to a three-year, $17.5 million deal to return to the Milwaukee Bucks, sources tell ESPN. Dieng had a strong finish to last season after his trade from OKC, and now Bucks officials finalize the deal with agents Michael Tellem of Excel… pic.twitter.com/9xFxjthnNW
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 30, 2026
Ousmane Dieng's Bucks extension comes with a wide-open path to playing time
While Dieng came into the league as an intriguing wing with solid positional size, upside as a shooter, and a relatively fluid handle, he was never truly able to actualize that skill-set. His playing time decreased through each of his first four seasons in Oklahoma City. In the 37 games that he played with the Thunder in 2025-26, he averaged 3.8 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 0.8 assists and shot 43.2% from the field on a diet of just 10.9 minutes per game.
On a tanking Bucks roster over the final portions of the season, things didn't look much better for Dieng production-wise. Although his minutes jumped to a whopping average of 26.8, he averaged just 11 points on 42.3% shooting from the field.
But now that the Giannis Antetokounmpo trade has gone through, the complexion of the Bucks' roster is much different. While Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Kyle Kuzma will have the first shot at frontcourt minutes, assuming they're still on the roster at the start of next season, Dieng will have a real shot at carving out a rotational role.
He'll also need to compete with raw prospect Nate Ament, who was selected 13th overall in the 2026 NBA Draft. But Dieng has both more experience and more polished offensive chops than Ament.
It's clear Milwaukee sees something in Dieng, and he'll now get his opportunity to realize his potential, even if it was never meant to work out on the Thunder.
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