The French nationwide workforce introduced immediately (through Twitter) that it has trimmed its preliminary EuroBasket roster to 14 gamers by making three cuts. Two NBA gamers – Thunder ahead Ousmane Dieng and Hornets large man Moussa Diabate – had been amongst these reduce, together with former lottery choose Frank Ntilikina.
Dieng and Diabate each have large seasons on faucet in 2025/26. Dieng, the No. 11 total choose in 2022, is at the moment eligible for a contract extension as he enters the fourth and closing yr of his rookie scale deal, which pays him $6.67MM.
Nonetheless, in contrast to fellow ’22 lottery picks Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren, who acquired maximum-salary extensions from the Thunder this summer time, Dieng isn’t thought-about prone to get a brand new deal at the moment and might be extra centered on merely hanging onto his roster spot on a deep OKC squad. He’s the one participant on the 15-man roster whose contract is absolutely expiring (with no choice for 2026/27).
Diabate, in the meantime, shall be seeking to parlay a profession yr in Charlotte right into a assured contract and a extra important position. His $2.27MM wage for ’25/26 is at the moment non-guaranteed and the Hornets, who’re at the moment carrying 18 gamers on customary contracts (16 assured) might be going through a roster crunch this fall. Nonetheless, the workforce is considerably skinny within the frontcourt and Diabate could be a part of the rotation once more after averaging 5.7 factors and 6.2 rebounds in 17.5 minutes per contest (71 video games) final season.
France nonetheless has loads of present and former NBA gamers on its roster after parting with three of them. Wizards kids Alex Sarr and Bilal Coulibaly, 2024’s No. 1 total choose Zaccharie Risacher, and ex-NBAers like Theo Maledon, Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, and Elie Okobo are amongst these nonetheless on the squad, per Eurohoops.
The French workforce should make two extra cuts earlier than EuroBasket ideas off later this month with the intention to set its 12-man roster.
