Second-year Thunder lottery pick Ousmane Dieng is rounding into form with the club’s NBAGL affiliate club, the Oklahoma City Blue, writes Joel Lorenzi of The Oklahoman.
Dieng’s three-point shooting, in particular, seems to have stabilized across his last eight contests with the club. He is connecting on 41.5% of his 5.1 three-point attempts per night.
All told, Dieng is averaging 16.1 PPG, 7.6 RPG and 5.3 APG in his appearances with the Blue. As Lorenzi notes, the No. 11 pick in the 2022 draft fits the mold of a player who could shore up the wing depth on the Thunder’s roster in future seasons if the team decides he’s ready for a larger role at the NBA level.
There’s more out of Oklahoma City:
- Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault is happy with the play of veteran forward Gordon Hayward, acquired from the Hornets at this year’s trade deadline, per Ryan Stiles of Inside The Thunder (Twitter video link). “His conditioning looks fine. I think he’s kind of got a steady energy on the floor,” Daigneault said. “And he’s done a good job in the system, he’s done a good job of being additive without being [overly] aggressive.”
- All-NBA Thunder point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander continues to look like a bona fide MVP candidate late into the 2023/24 season, writes Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca. At present, it appears to be a two-man race for the award, between Gilgeous-Alexander and two-time Nuggets MVP center Nikola Jokic. “For sure (winning MVP) would be up there (as a personal goal),” Gilgeous-Alexander told Grange last month. “I think for every basketball player, it is. Obviously, I’m not naive, I can hear (the talk), but right now I channel it out and I try to focus on the day in, day out. It’s what got me to this point. I’d be stupid to focus on anything else.” In 68 games this season for the West’s top-seeded Thunder, Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 30.8 PPG on .542/.372/.873 shooting splits, 6.4 APG, 5.6 RPG, 2.1 SPG and 0.9 BPG.
- In case you missed it, wing Josh Giddey is making an effort to make rival defenses for sagging off of him and focusing on other players.
Thunder at Bucks today …..
who will make the statement ????
Bucks today. OKC next year.
Unless Bucks want to play some defense I think OKC wins. This is their 1st match up so I think they will split the season series.
Rough 3rd quarter and Bucks just pulled away.
Can still split
They leave Giddey open but he isn’t terrible like Roberson back in the day. Giddey is skilled enough to still make shots and smart enough to drive or find someone cutting.
That said I don’t think he stays for next season. Jalen and SGA are the two that run things. Hard to give Giddey that $20 million when he is the 3rd guy you want with the ball, not considered a spot up shooter or great defender.
Bucks looked good ….. I’m rooting for Dame
OKC is still young imo. Not sure they are ready for a playoff run. They will learn this yr. What playoffs are all about.