The Milwaukee Bucks spent a rough season searching for answers, and one of the best ones might have been the move that barely registered outside the building.
Milwaukee finished 32-50, a losing season for the first time since 2015-16, and Giannis Antetokounmpo played only 36 games before what the source describes as his final season with the team ended with a trade to the Miami Heat along with Bobby Portis. In the middle of all that, the Bucks were forced to patch together production wherever they could find it.
Ryan Rollins made a big jump, but the quieter win came when Milwaukee brought back forward Ousmane Dieng on a three-year, $17.5 million deal after a strong 30-game run.
Dieng’s path to Milwaukee was anything but straightforward. He was drafted No. 11 overall by the New York Knicks in 2022, then traded to Oklahoma City on draft night.
He spent four seasons with the Thunder, appearing in 136 games and averaging 12 minutes per game. By the 2026 NBA trade deadline, Oklahoma City moved him to the Charlotte Hornets, and Dieng was traded two more times that same day before landing with the Bucks.
For Milwaukee, it turned into a useful reset. The 22-year-old only needed a couple of days to pick up the offense, then started making noise right away.
In his second game with the Bucks, he scored 17 points against the Orlando Magic while shooting 6-for-10 from the field and 5-for-8 from 3. He followed that with 19 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and four blocks against his former team, going 7-for-12 from the field and 3-for-6 from deep.
The production kept coming. Dieng finished his Bucks stint averaging 11.0 points, 4.6 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game, and he started 20 of his 30 appearances. One of his biggest nights came in April against the Houston Rockets, when he posted a career-high 36 points along with seven rebounds and 10 assists.
That kind of showing is why Milwaukee saw enough to bring him back. The deal also gives the Bucks another option on the wing and at forward, with Dieng showing he can score at all three levels in a 6-foot-9 frame.
Grant Hughes of Bleacher Report ranked the five NBA teams quietly winning the offseason and put Milwaukee at No. 3, pointing to the Bucks’ moves around the Giannis return and Dieng’s new contract.
"On top of maximizing their Giannis return, the Bucks also grabbed Summer League standout Brayden Burries at No. 10 in the draft and inked still-intriguing forward Ousmane Dieng to a three-year deal that'll top out at a $6.3 million team option in 2028-29, Hughes said."
Milwaukee also drafted Nate Ament with the No. 13 pick, adding more forward depth. That gives the Bucks room to let Ament develop while Dieng builds on what he did a season ago.
It also keeps Milwaukee flexible with Kyle Kuzma, who has been the subject of trade rumors this offseason. If the Bucks do move on from Kuzma, Dieng is positioned to step into that spot.
After what he showed in 30 games in a messy situation, Milwaukee has every reason to believe Dieng can take another step with a new coach and a fresh start.
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For Bucks fans, the message is clear enough: this was never going to be a painless transition, and Haslam did not pretend otherwise. He acknowledged the difficulty that comes with rebuilding, but said there is reason for cautious optimism as Milwaukee tries to turn a major roster pivot into something sustainable, even if the full payoff is still far down the road. [Read more 🡒]