With the 2022 NBA Draft fast approaching, teams across the league are making plans for what players they want to focus heavily on.
The Cleveland Cavaliers currently have the No. 14 overall pick in the upcoming draft. According a recent report, rival teams have pointed to French national Ousmane Dieng as a player the Cavs are “very high” on.
“Ousmane Dieng is another prospect rival teams point to as someone the Cavs are very high on, but is already off the board in this scenario,” Jonathan Givony wrote in a recent ESPN mock draft.
Dieng, who is just 19 years old and spent last season playing with the New Zealand Breakers, is the latest international player to garner a lot of buzz. At 6-foot-7, Dieng showed a lot of potential in the Australian NBL last season. He’s surprisingly fluid for his size and displayed the ability to defend multiple positions thanks to his size and speed.
He averaged 8.9 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.1 assists in just 20.3 minutes per game.
The Cavs’ apparent willingness to take a flyer on a very young international player is yet another sign that the team has taken the next step in its rebuild. Over the last few years, the Cavs have shown an interest in drafting more known entities. Now, with several young stars already on the roster, the Cavs can afford to take a bigger swing.
With that in mind, Dieng is certainly a player on the lists of multiple teams who will be drafting somewhere in the back end of the lottery. As Givony indicated, he does not currently believe Dieng will even be available for the Cavs to select with the 14th pick.
If he is, however, Cavs fans should not be surprised if the youngster ends up being the latest rookie to join the Wine and Gold.
