Mouhamadou Gueye’s stint with Charlotte looks set to end before it really began, and Valencia Basket is already waiting on the other side.
The Spanish club announced in a press release that it is adding the 6-foot-9 forward to its roster, even though he technically remains under contract with the Hornets for the moment. Charlotte has not cut him yet, but that move appears to be coming soon so he can finalize the deal overseas.
Gueye’s path to this point has been a winding one. He went undrafted out of Pitt in 2022 and has spent most of his four-year pro career in the G League, suiting up for the Texas Legends, Raptors 905, Capital City Go-Go, and Windy City Bulls. His best stretch came last season with Windy City, where he averaged 14.9 points, 7.4 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.4 blocks in 29.2 minutes per game across 47 appearances.
That production earned him a two-year deal with the Bulls during the final week of the 2025/26 regular season. The 28-year-old also had a brief NBA run before that, appearing in 11 games for Toronto during the 2023/24 season. In Chicago’s last two regular-season games in April, he logged 45 total minutes and put up 16 points, six rebounds, and six assists.
Chicago later exercised Gueye’s non-guaranteed minimum-salary option for 2026/27 so it could include him in a trade. He was first headed to Minnesota in a three-team deal involving the Timberwolves, Nets, and Bulls, but once the transaction expanded to include Charlotte, Gueye was sent to the Hornets instead.
At the time of that original agreement, reporting suggested Minnesota would waive him after acquiring him. When Charlotte ended up with him, the expectation was that the Hornets would likely do the same. That hasn’t happened yet, but Valencia’s announcement makes the next step pretty clear.
Valencia is coming off a strong EuroLeague season, finishing second in the 2025/26 regular-season standings at 25-13 and reaching the Final Four before Real Madrid knocked it out. The club is also in the middle of a major offseason reshuffle, with leading scorer Jean Montero heading to Olympiacos and NBA first-round pick Sergio de Larrea moving to the Mavericks.
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