Spurs bring in big man Dieng to help in playoff push.
New arrival Dieng doesn’t sport Aldridge’s pedigree but might be better fit off bench
The moment Gorgui Dieng reached a buyout agreement with the Memphis Grizzlies last week, he began having flashbacks.
Almost immediately, he was back in high school in West Virginia, one of the most coveted prospects in the country again.
“It was like college recruiting all over again,” Dieng said. “Everybody is going to talk to you and tell you why they want you to be on their team.”
In something of a minor surprise, the Spurs ended up winning the Dieng sweepstakes redux.
The 31-year-old big man on Monday signed a contract to
finish the season in San Antonio, accepting the Spurs' overture after listening to similar offers
from New York, Phoenix, Philadelphia and the Los Angeles Clippers.
“I felt comfortable with what I heard here,” Dieng said during an introductory Zoom session with local media before Monday’s game against Sacramento. “I like the team. I like the way they play. That’s why I am here.”
In eschewing bigger markets and perhaps a clearer path to the playoffs, Dieng has in some ways brought his career full circle.
Dieng first met Spurs CEO R.C. Buford and his family in 2009 at a Basketball Without Borders camp in South Africa.
At the time, Dieng was a teenager attending school at the Sports for Education and Economic Development (SEEDS) Academy in Dakar, Senegal, his native country.
“I knew them before I started speaking English,” Dieng said of the Bufords.
From the SEEDS Academy, Dieng’s hoops dream sprouted.
After a star turn at the Basketball Without Borders camp, at which Dieng was named MVP, he transferred to Huntington Prep in Huntington, W.VA., to finish high school.
Louisville won the next recruiting battle for Dieng’s services. He chose Rick Pitino’s program over offers from Marquette, Colorado and Marshall, and helped Louisville to the 2013 NCAA national championship.
From there, Dieng went on to become a first-round NBA draft pick, spending the first 6½ seasons in Minnesota before being dealt to Memphis at the 2020 trade deadline.
After finding himself buried on the bench amid the Grizzlies’ youth-oriented rebuilding project, Dieng comes to San Antonio in search of a fresh start.
“It’s like I am returning the favor,” Dieng said. “They helped my school way back. Now I’ve got a chance to play for the franchise.”
Dieng’s long-running connection with Buford isn’t the main reason he chose the Spurs over other suitors this week, but it did not hurt.
At SEEDS, Dieng was first indoctrinated with a respect for basketball he has carried with him at every stop since.
“They taught me the right things,” Dieng said. “You cannot cheat the game. If you cheat the game, the game will cheat you.”
In the Spurs, Dieng senses a band of kindred basketball spirits.
The Spurs, in turn, believe they have found a reserve big man to help with their playoff chase in the wake of Lamarcus Aldridge’s exit to Brooklyn last week.
The defensive-minded Dieng was shooting a career-best 47.9 percent from 3-point range in 22 games for Memphis this season. That mark — albeit on 2.2 attempts per game — would qualify him as the most accurate 3-point marksman on the Spurs’ roster.
Dieng’s best professional season came with Minnesota in 2016-17, when he averaged 10 points and 7.9 rebounds and 1.2 blocks in 82 games.
“He’s a very active player,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “For his size, he’s a good shooter. He gives us a little bit more depth for sure.”
Though Dieng is certain to end his NBA career with seven fewer All-star appearances than Aldridge, it is possible he better fits what the Spurs need from a backup center than his Brooklynbound predecessor.
He didn’t know it at the time, but Dieng put on quite an audition for the Spurs earlier this season, when the Grizzlies won consecutive games at the AT&T Center on Jan. 30 and Feb. 1
In those two contests, Dieng totaled 34 points, 16 rebounds and four blocks and made 5 of 6 3-point tries.
The 19 points Dieng registered in the second of those games remains his season high.
“We’ve always respected his play,” Popovich said. “He’s always been really solid against us.”
With the Spurs clinging to seventh place in the West, Dieng hopes to bring some of that to the postseason hunt.
Having not played in an NBA game since Feb. 28, Dieng was inactive against the Kings on Monday. Popovich said he does not have a feel for how long it will take before Dieng is ready to see the floor.
“Whenever it is, it is,” Popovich said.
As that day approaches, Dieng does not think the transition to the Spurs’ Way will take him long to master.
“I have been in this league for eight years now and have played the Spurs more than anyone,” Dieng said, in only a slight exaggeration. “They are a place I already had in mind. I am excited for this.”
Dieng said “you can write a story” about the journey from first meeting Buford 12 years ago to now playing for Buford’s team in the NBA.
What happens next, Dieng realizes, will involve some improvisation.
His aim is to play well enough to help get the Spurs into the playoffs after a one-year drought. Dieng understands there are no guarantees of a happy ending.
“There is no script,” Dieng said. “You play hard, you play well, you are going to play. If not, you are not going to play. That’s the way I see things.”
The days since leaving Memphis have felt something like a college flashback for Dieng.
He arrives in San Antonio focused firmly on the future.
“I’m very blessed to be in this situation today,” Dieng said. “I’ve got another chance, and I’ve got to use the best of my abilities.”