Nobody expected this from Moussa Diabatè.

When the Charlotte Frelons After signing a two-way contract with Diabatè at the end of July, the big world of the NBA barely blinked. An Charlotte’s present or future.

Boy, was that a mistake.

The Frenchman played an important role in Charles Lee’s undermanned unit. With less than three key contributors on the pitch, Lee was forced to rely on veteran journeyman Taj Gibson, new signing Tidjane Salaün and Diabatè, who has somehow become a key player. Gen-Z Dennis Rodman in his short stint with the Hornets. His performance on the boards has been key to Charlotte’s ability to compete with top teams like the Pacers and 76ers, retaining the ball with relentless offensive rebounding skills and shutting down enemy attacks on the defensive glass . Diabaté still plays a limited role, but the stats indicate that Baguette Barkley (is that nickname a factor?) should see an uptick in the minutes to come.

The Hornets play better when Diabaté is on the court. It’s quite simple.

Charlotte rebounds 40.1% of her own attempts when Diabaté is in the lineup, a figure in the 99th percentile overall in the Association (all stats via Glass Cleaning). His long arms and active motor, a lethal combination for a window cleaner, make every missed shot by one of his teammates a possible offensive rebound.

Before the Hornets’ game against the Pacers, Indiana head coach Rick Carlisle explained Charlotte’s propensity for generating an excessive amount of offensive rebounds, attributing the correlation between long, wobbly rebound paths and the volume of three-point attempts that Charlotte attempts. Diabaté delighted in these long rebound attempts, repeatedly gaining extra possessions for his offense. In half-court sets in particular, Charlotte hits 45.9% of her own misses with Diabatè in charge, the best mark in the league. His offensive rebounding abilities are a real game changer.

It’s not just domination on the boards for Charlotte when Diabatè plays; they are also significantly better on defense. The big man lacks the density of more lauded paint protectors, but he makes up for that with Gumby-like length and his aforementioned motor. The Hornets are allowing just 96.5 points per possession and a 45.5% field goal percentage when the Moose (maybe that’s the nickname) patrols the paint. Charlotte’s defensive efficiency numbers are average overall (16th according to NBA.com), but they’re borderline elite when Diabatè is getting burned.

However, this author was not born yesterday and is well aware that at the start of the season, with a small set of data, it is difficult to rely solely on statistics to fully understand the impact of a player. Moussa Diabatè mainly challenged the opposing bench units; an easier test than 30-plus minutes of banging around with the lauded big men Charlotte has faced in recent contests like Rudy Gobert and Myles Turner. However, the film matches Diabatè’s statistics.

Watch any of Charlotte’s most recent games against Indiana and Philadelphia and tell me her effort, energy, intensity and instincts don’t disappear from the screen. Diabatè’s offensive game needs some polishing (his two awkward LaMelo Ball exchanges Friday night didn’t do him any favors), but he’s shown flashes of solid finishing ability, and even some playmaking skills in hitting the ball to open shots on the court. short roll.

At the very least, Diabatè proved to be a valuable asset that Charlotte signed at the end of July coming off the scrap heap. If he never develops further and emerges as an energetic presence off the bench capable of mopping up rebounds in spot-up duties, that would be a win for Jeff Peterson and his scouting staff. On the other hand, if Charles Lee gives Diabatè an extended run with Ball, Brandon Miller and the starting unit, he could become a key piece of development on Charlotte’s oft-injured backfield. His next chance to impress Lee and his team will come Tuesday night when Charlotte opens the NBA game against the Magic shorthanded in Orlando.

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