Branden Carlson is not the player changing status here, but Ousmane Dieng is: the Milwaukee Bucks pulled his qualifying offer and sent him into unrestricted free agency. The move clears the way for Dieng to shop the market without Milwaukee holding him to the one-year, $9.6 million figure.
Dieng’s Milwaukee stint gave the Bucks a clear sample. He played 30 games, started 20, and averaged 26.8 minutes, 11.0 points, 4.6 rebounds and 3.6 assists while shooting 42.3% from the field and 33.1% from beyond the arc.
Ousmane Dieng in Milwaukee
The trade-deadline deal put Dieng into a bigger role than he had seen before. The article says his run in Milwaukee was his first extended playing time in meaningful minutes, and his previous high in average minutes before that had been 19.3 with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
He used some of that runway to post a career line on April 1 against the Houston Rockets, when he scored 36 points and added 10 assists. That game stood out in a stretch where he was asked to do more as a starter and secondary creator.
Milwaukee Bucks and bird rights
The Bucks still own Dieng’s bird rights, so the withdrawal of the qualifying offer does not shut the door on a return. It changes the price point: Milwaukee no longer has the one-year qualifying offer on the table, but it can still negotiate any amount it wants with him under those rights.
That flexibility is the part worth watching. Dieng’s market is now open to every team, while Milwaukee can decide whether the fit it saw over 30 games is worth a new deal or whether to move on with roster building elsewhere.
Jericho Sims and the roster picture
Jericho Sims will be back for his third season with the Milwaukee Bucks, another piece in the same roster cycle. Dieng’s status shifts from team-controlled free agent to unrestricted free agent, and that gives him the cleanest path to test value after a 20-start stretch and a 36-point high against the Houston Rockets.
Will Ousmane Dieng return to the Milwaukee Bucks, and if so, for what contract amount?
