NBA Rumors: Timberwolves commit to Gorgui Dieng, sign extension

The Minnesota Timberwolves have reportedly agreed to a contract extension with Gorgui Dieng

The Minnesota Timberwolves and Gorgui Dieng have reportedly agreed to a contract extension that will likely make him a longterm front court pairing to Karl-Anthony Towns. 4

The 21st pick of the 2013 draft, Dieng has spent all four years of his NBA career in Minnesota. Following a successful first year playing alongside and spelling Towns, the Timberwolves made the move to avoid letting their 26-year-old big hit free agency. They will  pay him $64 million over the next four seasons, according to Yahoo’s Shams Charania.

A Native of Senegal, Dieng didn’t come to the United States until his final year of high school. His combination of 6’11” size and athleticism gave him the opportunity to bring his talents to the states and he attended basketball powerhouse Huntington Prep for a season. While there, Dieng earned the attention of Louisville coach Rick Pitino and committed to become a Cardinal for college.

Dieng was a reserve as a freshman at Louisville but got better every year there. As a sophomore he was a starter on a Final Four team and he anchored their defense as Louisville won a national title his junior year. Following a season where he broke Louisville’s school blocks record and won Big East Defensive Player of the Year, Dieng went pro and was selected 21st overall by the Timberwolves.

He arrived in Minnesota a mature player with an NBA ready body. Though it took him a good part of the year to crack Minnesota’s rotation, he eventually made enough of an impact to make All-Rookie Second Team for the 2013-14 season. He improved and started 49 games during his second season and averaged 9.7 points along with 8.3 rebounds. He immediately looked like a steal from the 21st pick, but was a wild card for the team’s future.

Prior to last year, the Timberwolves added Karl-Anthony Towns and the organization decided to make Dieng their backup. Dieng has a center’s skill set, and on the surface appeared to be a mismatched pairing with their new franchise cornerstone center. Coach Sam Mitchell tried veterans in his starting lineup in an attempt to balance youth and proceeded to start Kevin Garnett 38 games and start Tayshaun Prince for 44.

As the season went along, Karl-Anthony Towns showed a unique skill set and thrived out of the high post, which enabled the Timberwolves to let Gorgui Dieng play closer to the basket. It became clear that this was the Timberwolves best power forward-center combination and Dieng eventually started 39 games last year, averaging 10.1 points and 7.1 rebounds.

Thus far this season, new coach Tom Thibodeau has opted to start Dieng alongside Karl-Anthony Towns and has had good success. Dieng has averaged 13 points, 13.5 rebounds and 1.5 blocks in his first three games and could be primed for a breakout season. Thibodeau has not only started Gorgui Dieng with Towns, but he has played over 30 minutes in each contest. Its appearing that the Timberwolves could be on the verge of a breakthrough year and the play of Dieng could be a big factor why.

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Thibs hasn’t hesitated to use two players many would use in today’s NBA as center before; he had success in Chicago with Taj Gibson and Joakim Noah playing in crunch time. Karl-Anthony Towns is unique player on both sides of the court and it makes sense that his longterm partner would be someone who bangs with the league’s centers. It happened with Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett and probably helped extend their careers.

Dieng has worked his way into becoming a part of the Timberwolves longterm core and answer next to Karl Towns, and this contract extension is a validation of his efforts.