I have watched and read everything I can on him since he signed on Friday with BYU.

The first and maybe most important thing to note is most of this comes from 2023-24 as he was with Washington this past season. He never played so we don't really know what he is at this very moment in his journey.

But in 2023-24 he played for Blois when Blois was in the highest league of French Ball (they were relegated after the year and look like they will be promoted again this year). Their team finished 16th in 2023-24 and compared to the rosters of the teams that were high (like Monaco or Paris who littered with former NBA players) theirs was relatively poor (hence the poor finish).

For the big club in 12 games Diomande averaged 5.5 mpg and .8 ppg. So again for reference this is a team that was bad in the best league in France (the winner of that league is currently 4th in Euroleague to give you an idea...they are the very best outside of the NBA).

He did play that same year in the U21 league and averaged 16.0 ppg in 26 games averaging 26.1 mpg. Remember that he was 18 then so playing in the U21 league and for the big club was quite a coup for someone that young. His Blois U21 team wasn't great either as they lost a lot more than they won. For more detail he shot 71.8% from 2, 30.5% from 3 and 64.3% from the FT line with the U21 club. Also 6.0 rpg, 2.0 apg, .3 bpg, 1.8 spg.


So what stood out? Same as the highlights that I'm sure most of you watched from Robby he has very good athleticism. I should also note his late pictures show that he has put even more time in the gym. While I would still call him more raw than refined, his body is in much better shape than a guy like Kanon Catchings or Egor Demin (Diomande is ripped).

His shooting shows promise, but again I would call him raw. Could I see him making 40% from 3 one day at BYU? Sure. Would I expect it in year 1? Probably not (although again we have this forgotten year that we don't know much about). I saw some defensive possession and he has the length and athleticism to be an excellent defender. But he wasn't always. I would hesitate to say he is a Mag replacement. His technique was a long ways from where Mag was at this past year. Could he become that? Sure. Maybe sooner than later I don't know. But as opposed to Mag who was generally in the right place and made the right play almost every time I would expect more spectacular defensive plays from Diomande sprinkled in with mistakes. Will he be better than Catchings defensively? I think so and the film said yes. But Catchings biggest flaws defensively were mental and not physical.

If Diomande progresses he has a real shot at the NBA. But he is still raw. In the U21 league it was a ton of dunks as the defenses weren't great. It was also a lot of 3's that I will call mixed results. 30% at that age is not bad, but it isn't great nor is the 64.3% free throw shooting. At this point (or when we last saw him) there is a lot of rawness in his game that needs to be worked out. He is an OK passer, but not great connector. He will need to work on that. His handles are good but not great.

I also believe he has grown recently. Some of his earliest tapes he looks 6'6" and was listed as such. Now he is listed at 6'8" and to the naked eye looks taller. Growing into your body is always difficult. So for him to have that athleticism while still growing is even more impressive. As you can see here he is listed at #18 among SFs in the 2026 class. But you also see on that they have Catchings listed at #9 in this draft class.

I expect Diomande to be more refined than Catchings was this last season, but a similar player. Just one that will go to the hole more than Catchings and hopefully will play better defense. Catchings is just a bit taller, but the athleticism goes to Diomande.

This is the type of player that you hope gets better and better as the season goes along.

Bottom Line: I don't expect him to start, at least not right away although if he is good enough he will (I didn't expect Mag to start but he earned that). Honestly what he has done to work on his game from when we last saw him to when the season starts next year will make all of the difference. Hopefully he is a guy like Richie who gets better and better by leaps and bounds every off season.