APRIL 21, 12:11pm: Jackson has now officially signed with the Bucks too, as the team issued a second release announcing his two-way contract.
APRIL 21, 11:22am: The Bucks have made Diakite’s new deal official, announcing in a press release that he has signed a new multiyear contract.
APRIL 20, 10:06pm: The Bucks are converting Mamadi Diakite‘s two-way contract into a multiyear deal, Jim Owczarski of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.
An undrafted forward out of Virginia, Diakite was named to the All-NBAGL First Team while playing for the Lakeland Magic in the Orlando bubble. He’s appeared in 11 Bucks games since the All-Star break, averaging 2.5 PPG and 2.3 RPG in 8.6 MPG.
“I have more to prove, I have more to give to the team and I have more to show to the fans,” Diakite said. “Them doing this shows me that they trust me in many ways, but I still have work to do.”
The exact terms of Diakite’s deal aren’t known, but it’s unlikely to be fully guaranteed beyond this season.
The Bucks are filling the two-way slot with forward Justin Jackson, who played 33 games with the Thunder this year. Oklahoma City released him earlier this month.
Jackson, who turned 26 in March, averaged 7.2 PPG and 2.2 RPG on .406/.306/.857 shooting this season.
The former 15th overall pick began his career in Sacramento in 2017 and also played for Dallas before arriving in OKC in the 2020 offseason along with Trevor Ariza as part of a three-team trade that sent Delon Wright to the Pistons and James Johnson to the Mavs.
Milwaukee now has a full roster.
Jackson sucks
That explains why he was released by the Thunder.
Jackson was in a bad situation in okc the boy can hoop and defend
Diakite is an interesting versatile prospect. I actually liked his potential before the draft, and thought they might draft him at 60. They have multiple pieces at those positions behind Giannis
You know I can live with these moves. I think they will do good. Bottom line is we are going to have to find some diamonds in the rough with our salary situation. We obviously have enough scoring so they put a lot on defense as far as the Bottom of the roster. Yeah and I admit I think Rivers or IT would’ve been nice they obviously didn’t want to be here very bad so moving on. Now will they be eligible for playoffs
Diakite has a stunning record of success. NCAA, GL titles.
2019- NCAA title, Virginia starter
2020- all-ACC, no tournament
20/21- GL title, Lakeland starter
A fine good-luck charm at least!
There is an interesting story concerning his father in Guinea, who was that nation’s Dr. Fauci for the Ebola outbreak. Since Ebola has an 83%+ fatality rate, thanks to the fighters. Then there was the revolution to get power, on & on.
I believe both Jordan Nwora and Mamadi Diakite have a very good chance of being quality role players in the league which would be huge for the Bucks cap situation moving forward.