OKC Thunder: Should Ousmane Dieng be on the Trade Block?

Ousmane Dieng is one of the Thunder's high-upside prospects, but trading him could be a possibility.

The Oklahoma City Thunder will have many decisions to make about their young players in the future, but some of those could come this season.

Some players will take time to develop, and Oklahoma City understood that when they drafted them. But with the team hoping to leap into contention, some believe those projects are not worth it.

In a recent Bleacher Report article listing one player who should be on the trade block for every team, Ousmane Dieng was the pick for the Thunder. The No. 11 pick in the 2022 draft will be entering just his second season after a rookie campaign where evaluating him proved difficult.

Dieng struggled to stay on the court last season, playing 39 games with the Thunder. When Dieng was healthy, he spent some time in the G League and played 20 games with the Blue.

In his games with the Blue, Dieng averaged 16.5 points and eight rebounds in 34.5 minutes. Despite his successful time in the G League, Dieng could not find consistent minutes with the Thunder last season.

Going into March, Dieng had only played in 19 games with the Thunder and just five after injuring his wrist in early December. In the final stretch of the season, he finally broke into the Thunder lineup and played in the last 20 games of the regular season.

Even with those appearances, Dieng never found a clear role in his rocky first season. With Chet Holmgren taking up more minutes this season, his spot in the rotation is far from guaranteed.

With Oklahoma City looking to be in championship contention in the next year or two, the article suggested that bringing in established role players for Dieng would be wise. While Oklahoma City would like to see out this project as it has with others, trading him for win-now players may have value.

Finding minutes for Dieng will be challenging, especially when the team is at full strength. His potential would be enticing for selling teams to take a waiver on, with the French prospect still only 20 years old.

But trading someone with as much potential as Dieng for a couple of bench players is something Sam Presti will almost certainly avoid.

The article mentioned the upcoming contract extensions for Holmgren, Jalen Williams and Josh Giddey being deterrents for potentially giving Dieng an extension when the time comes. Although the cap situation could be a factor in the future, Giddey’s extension would not kick in until the 2025-26 season, so making any moves based on that would be premature.

The reasons for having Dieng on the trade block have merit in theory, but trading him would make little sense for the Thunder this season.

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