Ousmane Dieng: 2022 NBA Draft Scouting Report
Incredibly raw and toolsy, Dieng has length and feel. Can his scoring and physicality catch up with the rest of his bag?
Consider us intrigued.
In-season growth and development is something to be celebrated. We must remember that development is not linear, there are plateaus, peaks and valleys along the way. But seeing growth during teenage years and adjustment to a season as it goes is indicative of a lot.
The guys who can do it against professional competition as teenagers? It means a hell of a lot more to us. Both Jaden Hardy and Dyson Daniels got a lot better in the later parts of the season with the G-League Ignite.
Cut their seasons in half and you have drastically different portfolios:
Hardy First Half: 17.2 PTS, 34.7% FG, 23% 3FG, 4.5 REB, 3.4 AST
Hardy Second Half: 22.0 PTS, 38.7% FG, 32.2% 3FG, 4.2 REB, 3.8 AST
Daniels First Half: 10.4 PTS, 42% FG, 24.8% 3FG, 5.5 REB, 3.9 AST, 1.9 STL
Daniels Second Half: 12.9 PTS, 47.7% FG, 34.1% 3FG, 8.1 REB, 5.6 AST, 2.0 STL
The improvements of both were notable, but pale in comparison to those made of Ousmane Dieng. The New Zealand Breakers’ youngest prospect had an in-season turnaround of epic proportions, salvaging a nightmare of a start and reigniting interest in him as a lottery prospect.
Dieng First Half: 4.8 PTS, 25.6% FG, 16.8% 3FG, 2.3 REB, 0.8 AST, 0.1 STL
Dieng Second Half: 13.3 PTS, 49% FG, 29.4% 3FG, 4.1 REB, 1.1 AST, 1.1 STL
After February 5th, Dieng’s season drastically turned around. He operated with the ball in his hands more, made shots, was confident off the bounce and started defending at a really high rate.
At 6’10” with super long arms and fluidity, what stands out most about Dieng’s game is his feel. He’s very good off the bounce, a terrific passer and can handle in the open floor. His frame is super skinny and doesn’t have a true position to play in the traditional sense, but his combination of physical traits and skill only comes along once in a blue moon.
Which version of the team that drafts Dieng will they get? Is he going to be an offensive focal point with barely sub-30% shooting? Is his shot getting better? Can he use his length to bother opposing ball handlers the way he did with the Breakers?
Or is he more of a guy whose entire season comes out in the wash: a 27% 3-point shooter who isn’t great from deep despite solid mechanics. A skinny guy afraid of contact, thus handicapping some of his natural traits that are so appealing. An efficient self-creator whose pull-up isn’t reliable enough for NBA duty.
There’s no doubt Dieng has fantastic feel for the game. Pick-and-roll playmaking at his size is rare, as is the fluidity of his handle. You can see the processing speed and basketball IQ take place on the perimeter.
We have a bit of an aversion to great playmakers who aren’t great at putting pressure on the rim. Without the threat of a layup, guys like Dieng won’t collapse defenses themselves. They need the right partner in the ball screen — a roll threat with a tremendous deal of gravity — to force help defenders to leave their man. All the playmaking doesn’t matter if helpers stay home on perimeter spot-up guys.
Dieng does project on a solid pick-and-roll creative option because he can utilize that floater quite frequently. The touch and elevation is important, and there are enough glimpses of proof that he can do it through contact that it can be a legitimate counter to Drop coverage. Perhaps that’s enough to turn the ball handling into functionality.
The scoring in other areas is all subjective at this point. He’s just… so many flashes but very little realization. The fact he shot 27% from 3-point range the last two years is so troublesome, even with a pure-looking stroke. The aversion to contact makes it hard for the length and quickness combination to result in anything within the 10-foot range (his floater is patience-dependent, not quickness).
Saving Dieng’s hyde is the impressive defensive ability on the perimeter. His frame is far too frail for physical guys right now; it’s possible that changes over time. But on-ball against smaller guys, Dieng’s quickness and length swallow guys up. Play him at the 2 and he becomes a very intriguing defensive piece. The beginning of the season was difficult for him until he started to switch onto guards more frequently, and that was all the difference.
While Dieng is good in that role, we don’t know if we’d call him elite. This isn’t to punish a guy for a skinny frame… plenty of guys grow out eventually and the worries about their strength look foolish. But when skinny, the players who make it have a desire to want contact. Dieng doesn’t seem to like anyone breathing on him, let alone bruising him a bit. We’d feel more comfortable about him on both ends if he was a little more contact-seeking in nature. The free throw rate is low, his defense only holds up against smaller guys (or holds up best there) and when he is defended by smaller guys on the interior, he isn’t a great mismatch option.
Some of that is, and can be, excused by playing in a professional league as a teenager. While that accomplishment alone is impressive, the lack of physicality cannot be attributed solely to being a teenager in a man’s league.
Throughout the scouting process, we have mixed feelings about the NBL. One side of the coin shows a league that is really good, and playing well in it has a growing track record of successful transitions to the NBA. On the other hand, plenty of prospects are utilized suboptimally, the process for these teenagers is not great and the team-by-team dynamic so drastically changing. Dieng’s development was aided simply by playing and succeeding in the league, but it wasn’t optimized in the context he played in.
Dieng is a prospect who requires imagination. But he also requires patience and hard work. Physically he isn’t ready for the NBA, and his shot needs to be super consistent. We have worries, no doubt. But we also see a great deal of unique, unteachable upside and enough feel for there to be a high-enough floor that he’s worth a top-20 selection.
Dieng Stats:
Dieng Advanced Stats:
