Massamba Diop's path to being the best portal add of 2026

The strength and identity of Mark Few’s Bulldogs inarguably come from their post players. Gonzaga has led the country in points in the paint per game for six of the last seven seasons. They’ve finished in the top three in that category for the last eight seasons. 

The Zags have found a way to create efficiency and high volume while having some of their worst perimeter shooting in recent memory. The last two seasons saw the team's lowest three-point average in over 15 seasons, ranking 296th last season in three-pointers made per contest.

Few and his staff entered the offseason needing to replace Graham Ike, who averaged 22.4 points and 7.3 rebounds in 35 minutes after co-star big Braden Huff missed the final 17 games of the season (Ike himself playing 14 of them). The portal market was about as accommodating as possible for this search, considering the price tags that competent (hell, even non-competent) two-way bigs were being priced at in those initial days.

Gonzaga could have gone safe, spending big on a prototypical, carbon copy, back-to-the-basket forward who would do his best Ike impression for a hefty nine figures. But instead, Gonzaga chose a different path, aggressively going after athleticism and potential over system traits by signing sophomore Arizona State transfer Massamba Diop.

This is by no means claiming Diop is a diamond in the rough as a prospect. The 7-foot-1 center from Senegal earned NBA scouts' eyes early in his freshman season. It was an easy portal projected target for high majors who had the means to maximize his talents and surround him with high-level players, especially with Bobby Hurley’s final season in Tempe playing out as predictably as the sword above Damocles.

Even in the context of a sputtering, directionless offensive system, Diop oozed projectible ability and development in his 29.6 minutes per game. While Diop is not the system plug-and-play transfer addition that Ike was in his first season in Spokane, and if his offseason development in Gonzaga’s system matches how the Zags have historically built their post players, Gonzaga holds their highest ceiling since the hangover of the Chet Holmgren and Drew Timme season. A dynamic that we’ll come back to as we talk more about Diop in the context of this Gonzaga team.

Fluidity that changes the game on both ends

What makes Diops one of the most intriguing big men in the market this offseason is his foot speed. The 230-pound center displayed dynamic mobility both as a recovery defender and as a finisher in transition. Throughout last season, the big man provided fluidity, getting out in transition to either finish in traffic or serve as a lob threat while outpacing his defender and the opponent’s back line.

Diop’s size and poise made him able to finish at the rim both in the break and halfcourt. He shot 71.7% at the rim last season, 9.3% higher than the national average and a shot profile of 46.5% of his attempts coming within 4.5 feet of the basket. When Diop exited the game, Arizona State’s paint shooting percentage fell from 42.1% when he was on the floor to a dismal 32.1% with him off.

Gonzaga is bringing on a player who is comfortable creating mismatches and forcing his man to defend him off the dribble and through traffic. Diop averaged 8.5 points in the paint last season, sliding him into the 92nd percentile in the country. Notably, 3.2 of those points came from putbacks (96th-percentile in Division I), making him an ideal clean-up man to pair next to Huff’s extended paint shooting and the downhill actions the Bulldogs enjoy running for their guards and wings.

Even if there are still questions about the perimeter and spacing out opposing defenses, Diop’s skill set provides a vital alternative to horizontal spacing: vertical threats. Freshman point guard Mario Saint-Supery showed proficiency as a lob passer to less-athletic bigs and smaller wings last season, and Diop should maximize these looks per possession.

While Diop can find ways to instantly fill in for Ike and potentially diversify opportunities on offense, his biggest impact for Gonzaga will unquestionably be his rim protection and defensive coverage versatility. Diop averaged 2.1 blocks per game last season, showing an impressive ability to stay in front on switches, play vertically in post-ups, and wreak havoc as the help-side defender.

The center’s size and discipline make him an easy projection as an elite rim protector, something that Gonzaga hasn’t had since Chet Holmgren. He held a 7.9% block rate his freshman season (92nd-percentile) in the Big 12. More impressive than his block rate was his ability to rim-protect without fouling. Diop had the 23rd-best blocks per foul efficiency in the country last season, boasting an average of 1.03 blocks per infraction.

Perhaps it’s a statement to Baylor’s dire frontcourt issues last season, but it’s worth noting that the Sun Devils deployed Diop to try to contain wing Tounde Yessoufu when they played in Waco. Having a 7-foot-1 center capable of challenging an NBA-caliber athlete at the wing position is a luxury few teams can afford at this level.

Diop has developed clear proficiency in helping off his man and closing off rim looks when opponents drive from the other side. He has a polished ability to read drives, hedge, and keep his body between the rim and his man until the on-ball player commits to a shot attempt. And when he is in a two-on-one situation, his mobility is highlighted yet again with his twitchy second jump skills, deterring one attempt and returning to his man.

Arizona State was by no means a consistent defense, and Diop’s 111 defensive rating is hardly anything to write home about. But the Sun Devils’ defensive rating jumped from 111 with Diop at the five-spot to 120.3 with him on the bench. 

Diop’s strengths match Gonzaga’s identity

Ever since the era of Ronny Turiaf and later Kelly Olynyk, Mark Few’s defenses have leaned on hard hedging with their bigs and allowing them to switch onto guards using their length to stay in front of them and keep angles to the rim closed off. That style of coverage was obviously at its apex when Holmgren patrolled the court. Still, as we saw last season, when injuries took a toll, Gonzaga would throw different actions when they had a tired Ike or an unpolished backup like Ismaila Diagne on the court. Having switchable, vertical defenders like Tyon Grant-Foster and Jalen Warley helped them, but the lack of size in the paint loomed large in their upset loss to Texas in the Round of 32.

Diop’s mobility also makes him a dynamic off-ball player to pair with the attention that Huff is going to warrant as arguably the best offensive frontcourt player in the country (led Division I in made field goals before his injury last season). Diop has clear basketball IQ when it comes to playing off gravity, ball pressure, and off-ball movements to the basket.

It’s difficult to know exactly where along his development Diop is in terms of scoring versatility, as he didn’t do so at volume last season. Still, the flashes of an offensive hub were evident. We saw by league play that a player is comfortable scoring over either shoulder with floaters and hook shots. You saw touch on his fadeaway paint jumpers. While Diop isn’t done building his strength out, he’s still able to bully in the paint and create separation in post-ups.

Diop first awed NBA Draft junkies with his comfort level as a scorer in face-ups and as a playmaker for himself. He’s a gifted slasher and driver for his position, showing an adept ability to read and create angles to the rim. His fluidity includes great handles for a player over 7 feet, creating space at the rim by using his body against his defender. Dating back to Olynyk, the Bulldogs have adapted their offense to initiating bigs if their skills had the chops. Diop could very well fit that mold when all is said and done.

Diop also feasts as a roll-man. He’s a solid screener, bringing fundamentals from his Spanish league days, and shows a knack for timing his rolls and reading how his ballhandler attacks the coverage. The 21-year-old, throughout his tape, shows a savvy player who relies on reading and reacting just as much as his size.

Where Diop’s game can grow in tandem with Gonzaga’s needs might actually be in his playmaking ability. Hurley used the freshman almost entirely as a finisher last season. Diop averaged 1.1 assists but had plenty of instances of providing an out-of-position read-and-react game on-ball, making the easy pass in the flow of the offense, and attacking rotational gaps. Having a rim-protecting big man that can create and connect offense like a wing is a game-breaking proposition, especially when he’s playing off of a guy who held an offensive rating of 135.6 and an effective field goal percentage of 67.8% in 18 games.

Where Diop needs to develop

The biggest drawback of deploying a center as an aggressive rim protector and helper is that contesting can get players out of position for rebounding, something that plagued Diop his freshman season and, to some degree, his limited international action prior to that. Despite playing nearly 30 minutes per game, he averaged just 5.8 total rebounds per game. His defensive rebounding percentage of 15% put him in the 48th percentile of college basketball. And it wasn’t as if he was conceding rebounding opportunities to his frontcourt partner; Arizona State ranked 337th in the country in defensive rebounding percentage.

There’s a level of coaching up rebounding that feels absent when watching Diop handle missed attempts on defense. Mental lapses could be a personal trend or instinctual, but it’s hard not to see him as failing to find a box-out opportunity and instead ball-watching as something that was simply not prioritized in Tempe.

Diop’s post-up defense projects to be another defensive aspect of his NBA appeal. He’s sound at staying vertical and avoids biting on pump fakes and misdirections. But there is a rawness to how he leverages his gigantic frame, and when in possession, he does so with it. For as mobile and quick as his feet are, oftentimes Diop doesn’t commit to sealing off until it’s too late. On some occasions, his man is already in a post move before Diop can focus on physically challenging him and making contact.

It’s here that his lack of fouling becomes almost a Rorschach test. What, in some possessions, appears to be an adept ability to stay vertical quickly turns into an inability to contest post-ups physically or to fully commit to closing out on shots in the paint. Getting him consistently pressed against his man and fully closing out would unlock another level to his daunting, 7-4-plus wingspan.

Continuing to fill out Diop’s frame should also help with both aspects of these current holes in his game and make him more comfortable committing to boxing out and withstanding the toll of providing consistent physicality. Getting Diop in one of the best developmental programs in the country for bigs could untap the potential that has him seen as the portal addition with the highest ceiling.