The Thunder have officially signed No. 11 overall pick Ousmane Dieng to his rookie contract, the team announced today in a press release.
Oklahoma City’s announcement also confirmed the signings of the team’s other first-rounders – No. 2 pick Chet Holmgren and No. 12 pick Jalen Williams – which we wrote about on Friday.
Dieng was the first top European prospect to take advantage of the National Basketball League’s Next Stars program. The French forward spent the 2021/22 season with the New Zealand Breakers in Australia’s NBL, averaging 8.9 PPG and 3.2 RPG in 23 games (20.3 MPG) against professional competition.
The Thunder sent three protected future first-round picks to the Knicks in order to land the No. 11 pick and select Dieng on draft night.
As our chart of 2022/23 rookie salaries shows, Dieng is on track to earn $4.57MM as a rookie and $21.17MM across four years, assuming he signed for the maximum allowable 120% of the rookie scale.
Here’s to Ousmane Dieng’s use, man. Dang
Out of all players here during draft. I would have taken Agbaji or kept Duren at #13. Dieng is a big upside swing by Thunder. Has great size, but still young n raw.
Agbaji could have started at SG. He’s 22 and ready to step in. Good size and good shot.
Agbaji wouldn’t have started over Giddey or Shai, and we have a ton of guards. I wanted Duren with that pick, but apparently Dieng has a lot of upside he just needs to develop.
Which works for OKC, as they’re still a team in construction and can afford to be patient with that type of player