Ousmane Dieng Focused On Making Impact Off the Ball for OKC Thunder

The Thunder's young project will have to develop quickly for any playing time.

Apr 14, 2024; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder forward Ousmane Dieng (13) drives to the basket beside Dallas Mavericks forward Markieff Morris (88) during the second half at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images / Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

Oklahoma City has high expectations this season — along with championship aspirations. Over the last few seasons, the blueprint has been laid out and the talent has been assembled. Now, the roster is ready to go.

That creates an interesting situation for project players with high potential like Ousmane Dieng. The former lottery pick was selected because of his high ceiling and potential longterm fit for the Thunder. The only problem is that Oklahoma City doesn’t have an abundance of playing time.

At the beginning of the rebuild, the team was able to give out minutes to youngsters and watch them develop. All of the Thunder’s young core had a full runway to experiment and improve without heavy expectations. Three years ago, Dieng would’ve been able to put his talents to the test night in and night out and receive valuable live reps.

Last season, Dieng starred for OKC’s G League affiliate, building confidence and expanding his skillset. Now he’ll try to break into a loaded Thunder rotation.

“Working on my body,” Dieng said when asked about his offseason. “Trying to gain weight and still working on my shot. I worked a lot on my shot and my body. That was the main points.”

One of the most valuable things he worked on with the Blue was off-ball reps. When his number is called with the Thunder, that will likely be his role.

Oklahoma City has a plethora of ball handlers that excel in isolation. The vision with Dieng has always been based on him as a connector, and that’s what he worked on all last season.

“Just to play hard, compete on defense and offense, make shots,” Dieng said. “One other point last year with the Blue was at first playing off the ball because that's how I'm going to play with the Thunder. I'm pretty confident on that.”

At some point this season, Dieng will likely be asked to contribute. Whether it’s by way of unfortunate injuries or Oklahoma City’s emphasis on developing young talent, he will find his way onto the court. It’s his job to prove that the Thunder should continue practicing patience with his development.

---

Want to join the discussion? LikeThunder on SIon Facebook andfollow us on Twitterto stay up to date on all the latest Thunder news. You can alsomeet the teambehind the coverage.