Ousmane Dieng: Plays for the New Zealand Breakers, 18-year-old Forward

Strengths: 

• Very intriguing athletic tools, 6-foot-10-inch size with a 7-foot plus wingspan, takes long strides when slashing to the basket, can get all the way to the rim off a single dribble in space
• Nice flashes as a p&r ball handler and passer, gets downhill easily off a screen, can reject and go baseline, has a strong foundation to mesh his floater with his lob pass
• Promising passing flashes, unselfish nature, has been able to manipulate defenders with eyes and kick to an open shooter, court vision is there, good at hitting roll man  
• Some potential as an off the dribble shot maker, has hit some pull up jumpers in the mid-range, hits these shots against a dropping defender with hand in his face
• Very good on-ball defender, long wingspan and lateral quickness allows him to be shut down at the poa, contests every shot, will be a multi positional defender, 1-4 upside 

Weaknesses: 

• Very thin frame, lacks strength in both the upper and lower body as well as the core, struggles mightily to create space or separate off man when in any kind of traffic 
• Bad finisher at the rim, shies away from contact very often, this is a problem given his 6’10 size, gets rejected at the rim and doesn’t have any craft in his game to adjust 
• Poor outside shooter, had an awful start to the season with his three point shooting, not reliable off the catch at any spot, mechanics need a lot of work, bad off the ball
• No real self creation game to speak of, can’t hit shots off the dribble unless he has a screen, is prone to getting caught on a screen on defense, overhelps on defense a lot 
• Even his strengths are mainly flashes without a ton of consistency or substance, will need several years to develop and the team that drafts him must be very patient