Ousmane Dieng Handed Opportunities in First Two Contests

The Oklahoma City Thunder's 2024-25 season has begun in complete Mark Daigneault fashion. In two games, swapping out Cason Wallace and Isaiah Joe in the starting rotation, looking to rookie Ajay Mitchell and Ousmane Dieng early in games, he's feeling out his roster and throwing some of his less experienced players in the fire early on.

It's boded fairly well, and both Mitchell and Dieng have shown the capability to hold their own in victories over the Denver Nuggets and Chicago Bulls in the team's first two games of the season. For Dieng specifically, he's worked a lot to get to this point, and though he's flashed promise, he'll have to perform at a higher level to continue to get the minutes he's been handed -- especially when the team is fully healthy.

The Thunder's guard depth is unfortunately undeniable for Dieng's opportunity, but garnering 33 minutes across the two wins has let him show his spark. Shooting a collective 4-of-11 from the field and 2-of-7 from three with 12 points, they haven't necessarily been his most refined performances, but he's offered some solid minutes during his time on the floor. Sitting at plus-20 when he's on the floor thus far into this season, there's some vailidity to his versatility on each end being beneficial to this Thunder rendition.

It'll be interesting to see how Daigneault weaves him into games down the line, as Dieng's been stationed in the unit that comes out nearing the four-minute mark of the first quarter -- he's been decent there, but this is easily subject to change with Daigneault's desire to gauge the effectiveness of his entire roster.

Dieng is capable, but he needs to continue to improve in the minutes he's given to carve out a secure role in the team's lineup.