Center Ousmane Dieng was reportedly dealt three times over the course of 24 hours leading up to the NBA trade deadline on Thursday at 3 p.m. ET.
It started Wednesday when the Oklahoma City Thunder sent Dieng and a conditional 2029 second-round draft pick to the Charlotte Hornets for veteran big man Mason Plumlee.
Then, later that day, the Hornets flipped Dieng along with guard Collin Sexton and three second-round picks to the Chicago Bulls for guards Coby White and Mike Conley Jr.
Finally, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported Thursday that Dieng was part of a three-team trade involving the Bulls, Milwaukee Bucks and Phoenix Suns.
As part of the deal, the Bucks acquired Dieng and wing Nigel Hayes-Davis, the Bulls acquired center Nick Richards and the Suns acquired guards Cole Anthony and Amir Coffey.
Per Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Wasserman, Dieng was one of six top-20 picks from the 2022 NBA draft who were traded this week:
A 22-year-old stretch big from France, Dieng was originally selected 11th overall in the 2022 NBA draft by the New York Knicks before getting traded to OKC on draft night.
Over four NBA seasons with the Thunder, Dieng has averaged 4.2 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game, while shooting 42.3 percent from the field and 30.6 percent from beyond the arc.
Dieng was part of the Thunder’s NBA championship-winning team last season, appearing in nine postseason games during their playoff run.
In 27 games this season, Dieng is averaging 3.7 points, 1.6 rebounds and 1.0 assist per contest.
While he took a circuitous route to get there, Dieng is now part of a Bucks team with some question marks in their frontcourt.
Chief among them is when or if superstar forward Giannis Antetokounmpo will return from a calf injury after the Bucks opted against moving him before the deadline.
Until and unless Giannis returns, Dieng could potentially be in line for an uptick in playing time as depth behind Bobby Portis, Myles Turner and Kyle Kuzma.