A summer filled with celebration nears its end. Only a month remains until the Oklahoma City Thunder start the 2025-26 regular season. The NBA champion has enjoyed its accomplishments, but soon a new marathon will start with them at the top.
Bringing back mostly the same roster, the Thunder are the consensus title favorite. They’re viewed as a team that could pull off the rare feat of being a back-to-back champion. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren all signed contract extensions this offseason to keep their title window wide open.
To prepare for the 2025-26 regular season, Thunder Wire will lay out three goals for all 17 players on the roster. OKC has 15 standard players and two two-way players. Let’s look at Ousmane Dieng and what he could accomplish this upcoming year:
Stay patient
Entering his fourth season, this probably isn’t the role Dieng envisioned. The 22-year-old has had an inconsistent role on the Thunder with only 1,339 total minutes played. The most games he’s appeared in have been 39, which happened way back in his rookie season. A combination of injuries and better depth has forced the long-term project to seldom play.
The best way to handle this is to remain patient. It might be frustrating for Dieng to have close to zero NBA production in four seasons, but those are the cards he was dealt. A lot of players in his shoes would voice their frustrations, but it’s better not to do that. If he wants to remain in the league, he must avoid personality clashes. It never worked out in OKC for other basketball reasons, but that doesn’t mean you have to make your exit even more sour.
Take advantage of playing time
Until then, though, Dieng is on the Thunder. The regular season is a marathon. It’s about entering the playoffs with fresh legs. After a short offseason, you could see the NBA champions utilize their entire roster throughout the year to avoid overworking some of their rotation players. That means the end of the bench could see some action.
If that includes Dieng, he could take advantage of playing time. He’s shown flashes throughout the year as a backup forward. There have been some shot-creation glimpses from the rhythm scorer. It’ll also be important to stay ready from the perimeter. He could get some catch-and-shoot looks from the outside.
Enjoy a fresh start
It feels inevitable that Dieng will be moved. He enters his fourth season without a contract extension. That means the Thunder likely don’t view him as a long-term piece. He was always going to be a project. OKC’s acceleration from a rebuild to a champion during his time has caused him not to get a fair shake at learning on the job. It happens.
Now, the next move will be to move Dieng. It’ll likely happen by the trade deadline at the latest. He could be worth a flyer for plenty of other franchises that can afford him low-leverage minutes. Some contenders include the Charlotte Hornets and Washington Wizards. It never worked out in OKC, but that doesn’t mean he can’t enjoy a fresh start elsewhere and earn rotation minutes.
This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: OKC Thunder 3 goals: Ousmane Dieng should get a fresh start elsewhere
