Sortie: Moussa Diabaté
What was all but official is now official:
Michigan’s Moussa Diabate will remain in the NBA Draft, he told @Stadium
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) June 1, 2022
Though we held out some hope that he might return to make a run at a lotto spot, Diabaté was going to find some NBA team that wanted an Extreme athlete even before the combine testing numbers showed just how far that extremity goes.
The talented big was Michigan's best freshman and best defender, earning a starting role just a few weeks into the season. There he proved a crucial defensive presence down low, with the best block rate of any Michigan four since DJ Wilson. Though Diabaté's debut season was up-and-down, his highs keyed road victories at Iowa and Ohio State, the latter when Hunter Dickinson wasn't available. At the very least, Moussa's presence was the difference between losing the tournament streak and a fifth straight Sweet Sixteen. Add a strong likelihood of many years of "That was our guy!" pointing in the future, and ça en valait la peine.
Diabaté was always going to leave before he came close to his vast ceiling, but it's a bit of a bummer that he only had time to scratch its surface. Hopefully he will get picked up by an excellent franchise that's committed to seeing him reach his potential, and Michigan fans will get to exclaim—in French of course—that yet another champion came through Ann Arbor.
His departure does finally begin the process of clearing up Michigan's roster situation for next season. They await word on Caleb Houstan, who if he stays in the draft (IE, if some team promised to draft him), I expect Michigan to reactive their portal activity. We should know soon.
Bonne chance, notre ami!
I hate to say it, but..
Emoni Bates come on down! Your the next 5-Star recruit on Michigan’s basketball team.
(See the Price is Right)
Seriously though, I feel like this is why Emoni delayed his decision.
He ain’t comin
Michigan doesn't want any part of that circus. Maybe if he estranges from his dad.
Nada chance.
Can UMich get Nance from Northwestern? He would be a great get for 1 year.
I would imagine UNC to be in the mix for him given that they didn't get Mayer. And that would be a very formidable opponent in a potential recruiting battle.
Would be a great get though.
Au revoir Moussa!
So if Caleb leaves (fairly likely), do we go shopping for a traditional 5 to spell Hunter? A stretch 4 to increase shooting around Hunter?
We need shooting.
That's what last year's team lacked.
Absolutely. It will be interesting to see how they cobble together a backup 5 though - TWill at the 5? Instant impact Tarris Reed?
Last years team lacked defense even more than it lacked shooting.
Ding, ding, ding. The great elephant in the Michigan basketball room...and the greatest of the great elephants returns. Generally, a team cannot out-score its own bad defense. Juwan and staff are going to have to be miracle workers, once again, if this 22-23 team is going to approach elite.
Nah, I don't think so. I believe Tarris Reed will serve us well as the backup center.
Caleb is gone.
Bye…
I would be on the phone with Pete Nance right now , while not outstanding he is a capable 4 .
I already asked this question in the Board post, but in quest for some actual info rather than the info-free blurb reply I got there I'll try again:
If NBA mocks can be given any credence at all (and I confess that while I look at many NFL mocks I seldom look at any for the NBA draft, so maybe they can't) Moussa appears to have a very strong possibility of not being drafted.
What are his options if this should indeed occur? G League? Europe?
I do know there were issues with his eligibility to receive NIL due to being a foreign national, but I thought I'd heard those were being ironed out?
Long way of saying is it possible Moussa is taking a cut in pay here?
He just worked out with the Hawks on Monday so it’s possible that he received assurances that they will draft him. While it is possible that he won’t be drafted, at this point he’s probably received enough info that he and his agent are banking on him being drafted. If he isn’t drafted, he would likely sign a deal in the G-League instead of going to Europe. All indications last we heard were that his NIL was not figured out a la Oscar Tshiebwe, meaning he is not taking a pay cut to go pro (in whatever form that takes).
UFA. Drafted or not drafted no way that Moussa or Caleb are on an NBA roster next year. They will go to the G league either way.
Caleb has a better chance to make a roster next year as a corner gunner.
Moussa is more of a project so will def need a year or two in the G League but has a higher ceiling (ie could be a starter in a couple years, maybe even a borderline all star).
Well this returns us to my question - can't we NIL these guys more $ than the G League pays?
Obviously if Moussa's foreign student status could have been worked around.
And since it seems there are no real rules regarding NIL, why observe them selectively?
If Caleb and Moussa are drafted where we’ve been hearing rumors (Caleb around 25, Moussa around 45), they’ll likely earn much more than they would with NIL. To use two former UM hoops recruits as comparison, Bones Hyland was drafted at 26 last year and had a rookie contract of 4 yrs, $10 mil, with $4 mil guaranteed. Isaiah Todd went early in the second round and signed a 4 year contract for $6.8 mil, with a rookie salary of $1.5 mil.
I think you might be overthinking the money aspect of this. These guys have dreamed of playing in the NBA for the entirety of their playing career. If they get a shot at a contract, even in the second round, why wouldn’t they take it?
Also I could be wrong but Moussa’s foreign status with NIL is likely an IRS thing. I don’t know how Tshiebwe did it at UK, but Michigan has definitely not been bending over backwards for players on the NIL front so far.
Sacre bleu!
Bonne chance, Moussa!
Mais quel fromage.
Not a surprise and I wish him luck. Feels like Houstan is gone as well despite him seeming a lot less NBA ready.
Ah well, there's still the portal and some young guys to step in.
Neither Caleb or Diabate are g league ready let alone nba ready. Hope he gets some stickum so he can catch a pass and Caleb gets a modicum of athleticism and learns to shoot with a hand in his face. For one and dones, these guys were a complete let down and what a waste of a year, that was shit anyway. We could of used last year to develop guys that want to be here. Instead we are light going into next year and had very little success. Hope if we get one and done players, they will actually have a major impact.
Au revoir, Monsieur Diabate!
Bonne chance!
The MGoCrew has always has a more extreme opinion of Moussa (positive) and Caleb (negative) than I do....or what I think they showed on the court. The very specifically selected "block rate" stat is an example. I would have argued that Moussa struggled to alter shots at the rim, didn't live up to his defensive potential, and demonstrated average vertical athleticism. At the same time, he was a center playing PF so he was still 6-11 and athletic so I'm not really surprised that his rate was better than Livers, Johns, or Duncan. I would say that Franz had the same number of blocks in four fewer games while playing "athletic defensive forward" two seasons ago. He was also better on offense than I thought he'd be, which offsets the defensive disappointment.
I wish Moussa the best and I hope he finds a pro team willing to develop him and show the patience to find out what he can truly become. I am skeptical that he gets drafted, however, and I'm highly confident he's going to spend a long time in the G-League trying to figure out his pathway to an NBA rotation. I wish he would be doing that in a Michigan uniform instead of an empty GL gym. In mock drafts right now he's being ranked in the 60s, which is a fringe pick.
Meanwhile, I don't get the Caleb draft status either but it is clear that NBA teams are more interested in him than Diabate because they want a 6-8 shooter and think he'll become one so he will no doubt choose to spend time in the GL also. He's being consistently mocked between 25-45.
I do think as a college coach in the NIL era that I will be a little reluctant to invest a ton of time/effort into recruiting foreign players. I think you still want guys like Houstan/Diabate on your team....but 5-stars are hard enough to get and keep without being able to entice them with NIL like you can Hunter.
I'd be shocked if Moussa isn't drafted round 2 at least. Still think he probably should have come back, but he's very athletic and likely has assurances.
Diabate's defense was so overwhelming or underwhelming UM coaching staff felt compelled to give major minutes to Brandon Johns in the Villanova game despite it known that Johns offensive confidence was shot. I saw too many smaller players post him and score right over him. There is a lot of athletic ability but right now not a lot of developed basketball skill be it offense or defense. He could not even catch the ball.
From what I can see, the % of undrafted freshmen has gone down from 35% in 2019 (8 undrafted out of 23 freshmen in the draft) to 23% (5 out of 22) to just 5% (1 out of 19) in last year's draft. Maybe they are getting better information, as whatever behind the scenes processes are becoming more familiar.
Also, of the 14 undrafted freshmen the past 3 years, 7 have found a way into actual NBA minutes.
As far as playing yourself into the lottery as a sophomore or junior, the past 3 lotteries have been:
freshmen: 9, 7, 8
sophomores: 2, 7, 4
juniors: 1, 0, 1
seniors: 1, 0, 1
So... it does happen (Franz) but is not the norm, and if not by end of sophomore year, forget about it.
Great info.
I think it's probably part better info and part NIL. It's now usually financially advantageous for a guy that's borderline draftable to come back to school. That wasn't the case 2+ years ago because something was more than nothing.
Well, bye. Bummer, we never saw his full potential here.
Oui, oui.
Mon dieu!
This is a huge mistake and represents the impatience of these young players. If Diabate remains and does not improve, he will be drafted roughly in the same place which is low 2nd round or not at all. If he does improve, he goes into the NBA being able to command a much higher salary. The NCAA tape is far more indicative than any scrimmage. In the most of intense of games, he was benched for Brandon Johns who could not hit a shot to save his life.
oh shit, someone get hfhmilkman the phone numbers of every NBA GM so he can warn them!
If the nba scouts think either of these guys are nba players then I don’t want what they are smoking. It’s ok to be critical of this decision. How this guy is getting negged based off an observation that anyone with eyes can see, is beyond me. They aren’t Michigan players anymore and last year feels like a complete waste. We were shit and now lose players that desperately needed to improve their game to contribute to us, let alone be nba players. Good luck in the g league or Europe guys!!
So I have been thinking about this with regard to Moussa. I think if Dickinson left, he would have been more open to coming back. Moussa will be better as small ball 5 than at the 4 spot. Coming back with Hunter, he is still playing in Hunter's shadow as big. It wouldn't be shocking if he decided to come to Michigan thinking Hunter was 1 and done and he just steps into that 5 position. Not saying they dislike each other but more about fit on the court. I just never thought the actual pieces fit this year with this team although there was talent at each position.
Yeah, playing another year either out of position or as a back-up wouldn't be the best way to improve his draft stock, add to that his lack of NIL opportunities, and it makes sense,
End of the day, Moussa probably has the better NBA future, but if I only get one, would rather have another year of Hunter
Moussa, nous te connaissions à peine. Bon courage !
Six hours left and still nothing from Houstan. I'm sure he's still deliberating heavily!
Or it's just a PR move.
To be that guy...
"Une sortie" is the noun (an exit), but if you mean exit as a verb, it should be "sorti" for him, as he is a man.
I wish they would both come back but I think Houstan will be gone as well. I can't blame them for the $$$$, rather then playing college call one more season.
Diabeetus.
The legendary Michigan Money Cannon we read about in the lost scrolls seems a lie!
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