Michigan prospects Caleb Houstan, Moussa Diabate appear in Sports Illustrated post-lottery NBA mock draft
Both of Michigan Wolverines basketball’s sophomore-to-be NBA Draft prospects Caleb Houstan and Moussa Diabate were projected to go off the board in Sports Illustrated’s post-lottery mock draft. Houstan is skyrocketing up projections, while Diabate is climbing as well.
Houstan received an NBA Draft Combine invite, but declined and will not participate. That has led many to speculate that he may have a ‘guarantee’ from a team, and ESPN.com’s Jonathan Givony actually reported that some franchises believe he does have a promise. Diabate, meanwhile, is set to attend the event, but the league has yet to announce who will play in scrimmages (some players opt to sit out). The combine begins Wednesday (May 18) and runs through Friday (May 20). Both players have until June 1 at 11:59 p.m. to withdraw from the draft and retain their collegiate eligibility.
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Sports Illustrated’s Jeremy Woo placed Houstan at No. 34 overall, early second round to the Oklahoma City Thunder.Coincidentally — or perhaps not so much — the Thunder are the team that Givony projected to take the Michigan wing, only at No. 30 overall, the last selection in the first round.
The Thunder have four overall selections, including two in the lottery (No. 2 and No. 12), three in the first round (No. 30) and the aforementioned 34th pick in the second round.
It’s easier for a team to take a ‘risk’ on a player like Houstan, who was a projected top-10 pick ahead of last season but didn’t quite live up to expectations (though he did have a solid season), if it has a plethora of picks. Oklahoma City, of course, is in that situation. Meanwhile, however, The Athletic‘s Sam Vecenie pegged Houstan as the No. 36 pick, early second round to the Portland Trail Blazers. So if the Thunder have offered the 6-8, 205-pounder a guarantee, word hasn’t gotten out to everyone just yet — and likely won’t before the draft occurs.
Houstan averaged 10.1 points, four rebounds and 1.4 assists per game, and shot 38.4 percent from the field. Michigan was 10-1 when he scored 13 or more points, and he scored in double figures 17 times.
He hit 35.5 percent of his 169 three-point attempts, standing as the last Michigan player to nail 60 or more triples in a season since Jordan Poole in 2019 (75). He connected on 47.7 percent of his three-point attempts at Crisler Center, compared to just 29 percent on the road and 26.2 percent on neutral floors.
Diabate was pegged as the No. 44 pick in the middle of the second round to the Atlanta Hawks.
The 6-11, 210-pounder’s stock is also based on upside, though he doesn’t have the background on the world circuit like Houstan, who stood out with Team Canada at the FIBA U19 World Cup in Latvia last summer.
It’s not as if Diabate wasn’t productive, though, earning a spot on the Big Ten All-Freshman team in 2022. He had the third-highest usage rate among Michigan starters — ahead of Houstan — and averaged nine points and six rebounds per game. He shot 54.2 percent overall, and connected on 57.1 percent of his two-point shots during Big Ten play, which ranked 14th in the league. He hit just three of his 14 three-point attempts, an area of his game he’s working to improve.
