Hornets big man Moussa Diabate was cut from the French national team on August 8 ahead of EuroBasket 2025. After a knee issue forced Vincent Poirier to withdraw from the tournament, France’s head coach, Frederic Fauthoux, reached out to Diabate about the possibility of rejoining Les Bleus, according to Arthur Puybertier of Be Basket.
However, after consulting with his camp, Diabate declined the offer in order to “focus on his upcoming NBA season” (hat tip to Eurohoops).
2025/26 is a big season for the 6’11” center, whose minimum-salary contract with Charlotte is non-guaranteed. Diabate emerged as a rotation regular in ’24/25, averaging 5.7 points and 6.3 rebounds while shooting 59.6% from the field in 71 appearances (17.5 minutes per game).
While the Hornets could be facing a roster crunch this fall, head coach Charles Lee recently praised Diabate, so it would be somewhat surprising if the 23-year-old ends up being released.
The French national team announced on Sunday (via Twitter) that it has finalized its 12-man group for EuroBasket, with Poirier and Paris Basketball guard Nadir Hifi the final two players cut. According to Eurohoops, France’s roster will likely consist of Theo Maledon, Sylvain Francisco, Elie Okobo, Isaia Cordinier, Matthew Strazel, Zaccharie Risacher, Bilal Coulibaly, Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, Guerschon Yabusele, Jaylen Hoard, Alex Sarr and Mouhammadou Jaiteh.
Risacher (Hawks), Coulibaly (Wizards), Yabusele (Knicks) and Sarr (Wizards) are current NBA players, while Maledon, Okobo, Luwawu-Cabarrot and Hoard previously spent time in the league. Cordinier is a former second-round pick (44th overall in 2016), but the 28-year-old has only played in Europe to this point in his career.