Hornets' Moussa Diabaté Ranked Top-27 Center in NBA

HoopsHype ranked Charlotte Hornets big man Moussa Diabaté the 27th-best center in the NBA.

Diabaté appeared in 73 games for the Hornets last season. He averaged 7.9 points, 8.7 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game while shooting 63.1% from the field and 65.9% from the free-throw line.  

Diabaté won the 2025-26 NBA Hustle award. He also got his contract for the 2026-27 season fully guaranteed.

The Kia NBA Hustle award honors players who make effort plays that do not often appear in the traditional box score but impact winning on a nightly basis. The award is based on a statistical formula rather than a media vote, utilizing a mixture of hustle stats.

Hustle stats – including deflections, loose balls recovered, charges drawn, screen assists, contested shots and box outs – have been tracked by the NBA since the 2016 playoffs.

Charlotte made a dramatic in-season turnaround during the 2025-26 campaign. Through December 22, the Hornets were only 9-20, but from December 23 through the end of the season, the Hornets went 35-18, the sixth-best winning percentage in the NBA during that span.

What sparked that change? Well, December 23 marked the day Diabaté became a full-time starter for the Hornets. Diabaté thrived in his role as a hustle player in that unit, complementing fellow starters LaMelo Ball, Kon Knueppel, Miles Bridges and Brandon Miller.

Here are some stats from Diabaté's 2025-26 season, via NBA.com:

• He set hard-hitting screens to free up Charlotte’s prolific 3-point shooters, ranking fourth in screen assists per minute (0.1122) and seventh per game (2.9). Driven by his activity, the Hornets ranked fifth in points per possession off screens (1.07) this season.

• He boxed out and crashed the offensive glass to give the Hornets extra possessions, leading all players in offensive box outs per minute (0.0537) and tying for first per game (1.4). He finished fifth in offensive rebounds per game (3.7), helping Charlotte rank second in second-chance points per game (17.8).

• He had a nose for chasing down 50-50 balls on offense, ranking eighth in loose balls recovered per minute (0.0147). Those extra efforts provided the Hornets additional opportunities to score and prevented opposing teams from getting out in transition.

• He contested shots from all over the court, ranking 10th in contested 2-point shots per minute (0.2001) and 11th in contested 3-point shots per minute (0.0958). Diabate's ability to defend multiple positions — he split his time between defending guards (21.1%), forwards (35.4%) and centers (43.5%) — helped Charlotte become a top-five defense once he became a full-time starter.

Diabaté's contract was previously non-guaranteed. The deal would have become $250,000 guaranteed on the Hornets' opening night, then fully guaranteed on the league-wide guarantee date of January 10, 2027.

The Hornets missed the playoffs by one game last season.

Let's see if they can end their playoff drought next year. 

Charlotte will start Diabaté alongside Coby White, Miller, Knueppel and Naz Reid.

Charlotte opens the 2026-27 season on the road against the Brooklyn Nets.

The home opener is against the Atlanta Hawks.