After an unbelievable Summer League stint, expectations were high for second-year forward Ousmane Dieng in Oklahoma City. He was supposed to be a nightly impact player off the bench.
To this point in the season, the vision hasn't quite panned out. Dieng looked much more comfortable in Summer League minutes and looked to be taking the next step. It appeared that the light went on, and things started to click.
Almost halfway through the season, the young wing has spent most of his time with the Oklahoma City Blue and can't find his offensive game when he receives extended minutes with the Thunder. His defense has been a positive, and his rebounding has the potential to be a positive, but it's not translating to the Thunder's success so far.
It appears Mark Daigneault and company remain committed to giving him minutes when he's available, though. It's easy to see why, as the light randomly clicked on in the Summer League and he didn't look back. The hope is clearly that the same type of scenario would happen with the Thunder.
On Monday night, Dieng logged 12 minutes and added five points and three rebounds. He was just 1-of-4 from the 3-point line, which hurt the Thunder as all of them were wide open. It feels like Dieng played at the expense of Aaron Wiggins, too, who didn't enter the game. Wiggins has been one of Oklahoma City's most efficient bench players, shooting 57.1% from the floor and 48.6% from outside.
Since being recalled from the Blue, Dieng has logged solid minutes in three straight games. For that to continue, he needs to find his stroke from long range. He's shooting just 2-for-11 over the last three, and teams are leaving him open for a reason.
Regardless of his play, his potential is still through the roof. And that's the biggest reason why Oklahoma City is sticking to his development plan.
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