The second Wolverine is off the board during the second round of the 2022 NBA Draft, with forward Moussa Diabate selected No. 43 overall by the Los Angeles Clippers.
Diabate joins fellow Wolverine Caleb Houstan, who was selected No. 32 overall by the Orlando Magic.
When Diabate chose to enter his name into the NBA Draft, many projected it would be for exploratory purposes only. Diabate then received an invite to the NBA Combine where he put together an exceptional performance in measurement drills, posting top 2 numbers for centers in nearly every category. The performance however did not seem to translate to higher draft projections as he did not see any boost in mock drafts. He did attend multiple team workouts throughout the process.
Diabate originally started his freshman season in Ann Arbor backing up Brandon Johns and Hunter Dickinson, getting minutes at the 4 and 5 off the bench. It was long before he took the starting job from Johns, but would still play minutes at center when Dickinson was off the floor. Diabate had big moments but looked every bit the raw talent many expected him to be when he joined the Wolverines. He seemed to struggle protecting the ball around the hoop and was not always comfortable with the ball outside the paint. Still, the talent is obvious, and he has potential as a lean and agile defender who can block, get rebounds, and run the floor.
Diabate is originally from France, but spent his high school years playing at multiple academies in Florida before transferring to IMG Academy for his junior season. Diabate was a five-star recruit and ranked 26th in the country in the 2021 class.
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