Moussa Diabate hasn’t taken a day off in the offseason, as he’s been continuously grinding in the gym. Outside the weight room though, one thing that could be massive for the Charlotte Hornets is if Diabate develops a three-pointer.
On a recent episode of The Road Trippin’ Show, Kendrick Perkins asked what Diabate is working on in the offseason for himself and for the team. Diabate answered with something that should excite Hornets fans:
“Definitely work on my offensive game and add a little corner three. That would obviously be nice, so definitely just focus on that... expand my range. But really, at the end of the day, as much as I want to do all those things, I want to also make sure that I'm great at the things that I already do. I think that's the most important part."
What the Hornets have been missing for the longest time is a shooting big. In the modern NBA, it’s such a valuable archetype and particularly for the Hornets playstyle. This is why so many trade ideas with a modern big has erupted.
If defenses are forced to respect Diabate at the perimeter, everything opens up. Suddenly LaMelo Ball and Kon Knueppel have wider driving lanes, cleaner angles, and far more room to operate. And it fits perfectly with what Charles Lee wants — a roster full of guys who can stretch the floor, punish space, and add real scoring gravity from deeper range.
Moussa Diabate should follow in the footsteps of another non-shooting big who developed
One of the biggest surprises of the postseason was when Andre Drummond was hitting dagger 3s. This seemingly came out of nowhere, as Drummond never had this shot in his repertoire for the majority of his career.
On the season, Drummond was hitting 35.6 percent of his three-pointers. This was all on low volume (1.4 3PTA), but it is an encouraging development and makes it where defenders can’t just leave him wide open.
This is the hope for Diabate, who didn’t get too many chances this year to fire away. But when he does attempt them in a game or during shootaround, it looks like it goes in frequently.
Improving his offense as a whole should be priority for Moose
As far as development goes, Charles Lee needs to encourage Diabate to take more open shots. It’ll be interesting to see when preseason starts if they start letting Diabate get more looks beyond the arc.
The most important takeaway from all of this is if Drummond can develop a three-pointer, anyone can. Diabate is one of the hardest workers in the building, and that’s evident by his end-of-season award he received.
Improving his offensive game will only help what the Hornets already have in their core nucleus. If Diabate is able to achieve all of this in the offseason, he may have a case for Most Improved Player in 2027.
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