Former Cleveland Cavaliers project player Mamadi Diakite, who was on a two-way contract with the team during the 2024-25 campaign, is now emerging as one of the better defensive players in Europe. He spent four years bouncing around the NBA, including winning a championship during his rookie season with the Milwaukee Bucks in 2020-21.
This summer, he finally made the leap overseas, signing with Baskonia, joining a hoard of other former NBA players on the roster. His shot-blocking abilities have been very impressive during his short tenure there thus far, especially considering he’s not playing a ton of minutes (compared to other guys).
It looks like he could be starting a solid career overseas.
How is Mamadi Diakite playing?
Diakite has appeared in 20 total games for Baskonia since joining the team at the start of the campaign, playing just 16.5 minutes per contest. However, he’s putting up some decent numbers.
The 6-foot-9, 28-year-old forward is averaging 6.3 points, 3.2 rebounds, 1.1 assists, and an impressive 1.4 blocks per contest. He is shooting 59.0% from the field and 33.3% from deep on 1.1 three-point attempts per contest.
However, his shot-blocking in EuroLeague games is where his abilities as a defensive menace are really on display, as he has been one of the best rim protectors in the competition thus far.
Diakite has averaged 1.5 blocks per game in 12 EuroLeague contests, and he has only played 15.6 minutes a night. He ranks second in the entire competition in blocks per game, sitting only behind Edy Tavares (2.1 blocks).
In fact, no other player in the top 12 in blocks per game in the EuroLeague has played fewer minutes than he has, and he ranks second among all of them.
Diakite flashed some of these shot-blocking abilities while playing in the G League during his time in the NBA, including his 20-game season with the Cleveland Charge in 2022-23. He blocked 1.9 shots per game that year.
Unfortunately, the Cavs (and Bucks, Oklahoma City Thunder, New York Knicks, and San Antonio Spurs) didn’t see enough in Diakite to keep him around at the NBA level.
However, just because he didn’t pan out in the NBA doesn’t mean he can’t play high-level professional basketball. He’s proving that right now with Baskonia in the EuroLeague.
And at just 28 years old, he could have a pretty long overseas career ahead of him.