Ousmane Dieng has made an incredible opening impression during his first few performances with the Milwaukee Bucks. Through three games, Dieng has Bucks fans thinking big, hoping that they have stumbled upon the steal of trade season. It's not just the fans, as Darvin Ham, who filled in as coach for Doc Rivers recently, praised the newcomer.
"He's just scratching the surface. We found a jewel... He's someone who is going to help us in the immediate present and the future."
Ham is unquestionably a believer in Milwaukee's rising youngster, having played him 36 minutes in the Bucks' latest win over the Thunder. That was the second-most minutes the forward has logged throughout his young career yet. If the Bucks play their cards right, he should surpass that number many times moving forward.
Dieng has all of the makings to be in Bucks' future
Despite this being Dieng's fourth NBA season, he's still just 22 years old. He came into the league as an incredibly raw prospect. While the OKC Thunder went out of their way to acquire him on draft night back in 2022, they never played him much. He was just depth. Little did the rest of the NBA know that he was a hidden gem just waiting to be unearthed.
As Ham alluded to in his postgame presser, there is so much to like about Dieng. He's athletic and an excellent rebounder. He's versatile and can shoot the long ball. The list goes on and on. All of this has been reflected over his past two games, where he's averaged 18 points, seven boards, three assists, and two blocks. A stretch like that was unfathomable in OKC.
Dieng needs to be in both Milwaukee's short-term and long-term plans. Short-term, he's shown over these last two games that he can make an impact. The forward has given the Milwaukee Bucks a spark that they've been missing this season. Long-term, again, he's just 22. He's not even close to reaching his prime yet and has plenty of room to grow. The potential is limitless.
It will be particularly important to get Dieng plenty of time down the stretch this season. He's finally gotten himself into a groove after years of sitting on the bench. Milwaukee cannot take that away. There is no telling how the rotation looks when Giannis Antetokounmpo returns, but someone in the frontcourt will lose minutes, and it shouldn't be Dieng. He's a jewel.
Adding to how big of a steal Dieng is was the fact that he got traded three times before the buzzer this past deadline. OKC, Charlotte, and Chicago all moved on from him before he ended up with the Milwaukee Bucks. Those teams may be kicking themselves right about now.
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