Stiles Points: Now or Never For Former Thunder Lottery Pick

The Oklahoma City Thunder selected Ousmane Dieng in 2022 NBA Draft lottery, in what has been one of Sam Presti's best classes. Dieng will need to step up at the start of the season, or risk being left behind.

Ousmane Dieng is pictured during the Thunder media day at the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, on Monday, Sept. 30, 2024. / NATHAN J. FISH/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

"Tomorrow will be to late It's now or never," the great Elvis Presley said in his 1956 chart topper, but the King of Rock and Roll's words loom large for Oklahoma City Thunder lottery pick Ousmane Dieng entering the 2024-25 NBA season.

This preseason, the Thunder have seen a rash of injuries hit the team to varying degrees. The most notable being the newly acquired seven-footer Isaiah Hartenstein who is sidelined for five-to-six weeks with a hand injury.

Kenrich Williams and Jaylin Williams remain on the shelf with a re-evaluation date lurking around the corner and even rising star Jalen Williams was hampered with an ankle injury in the team's preseason finale which is reportedly "not severe," in the only report out on the matter at this time.

Safe to say, there will be minutes to go around unexpectedly on one of the deepest teams in the NBA and a bonafide Western Conference contender. Someone has to step up on Mark Daigneault's squad particularly downlow with Hartenstein abcense and murkiness on if Kenrich Williams or Jaylin Williams can return in time for the season opener.

This is where Dieng comes in, entering year four after being selected with the No. 11 pick back in 2022. Sam Presti traded up the board to grab the New Zealand Breaker understanding the 6-foot-9 forward with guard like skills would be a project player for a 20-something win team at the time.

Quickly, the Thunder ascended and Dieng, did not. Though, to no fault of his own. Not only did Oklahoma City know what they were signing up for, the Thunder's meteoric climb is littered with jaw-dropping anomalies and unprecedented development. To judge Dieng on that scale would be unfair to all parties involved.

So, instead of a headline stealing rise, Dieng has improved in the shadows of the G Leauge - and while it has not translated to the varsity level yet, he has improved. A year ago, playing with more offensive force than ever, turning in the best season of his career in dunks and being more willing to mix it up.

However, timid is the best way to depict the 21-year-old forward under the bright lights which has kept him parked on the pine for the vast majority of his NBA career.

Those days are numbered. The Thunder got too good too fast, this season is too important, for Dieng to stick in Bricktown, he has to be ready to play right out of the gate.

The door has been cracked open due to injuries for the lottery pick to prove himself and potentially help this team not only patch work their way through their first piece of adversity but redefine how he is viewed as a player.

While it will not be easy, playing a small-ball five spot without much reps outside of the G League in, it is do able.

Though, the what has pleagued Dieng to this point in seeing the NBA floor has been his ability to "play with force," a sentiment echoed by both Thunder bench boss Mark Daigneault and Blue head coach Kameron Woods.

A timid undersized center is not exactly ideal. Though, with his frame, when Dieng shows pops of aggression, he proves he can produce in this role.

Without an impressive opening start to the 2024-25 NBA season, Dieng goes the way of Darius Bazley, Aleksej Pokusevski, Tre Mann and many Thunder projects before him. A bad opening stint in this campaign would not be a career enter, but a chapter closer.

Stiles Points

• The Oklahoma City Thunder will have a new-look television partner for the 2024-25 NBA season as Bally Sports goes through a rebrand.
• Will the Thunder fill their final roster spot after a recent injury to Isaiah Hartenstein?
• Jalen Williams suffered an ankle injury in the Thunder's final preseason game but the early report seems promising.
• .Saturday serves as an official cut-down date for NBA rosters to trim down to 15 standard contracts and three two-way pacts. The Thunder have already waived Cormac Ryan and Buddy

Boeheim.

Song of the Day: Suspicion by Terry Stafford

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