Knicks Unlocking Their Secret Weapon...

The New York Knicks are unlocking their secret weapon, and despite the fact that Knicks fans have known how good this talent is, he has not played consistent minutes in the NBA so far, but that is about to change. And with there being contract extensions looming for this team, there is a lot of talk and a lot of money that's been spent out on the Knicks, meaning right now they need some production out of the guys who don't make a ton of money, and they are about to get it in a full season's worth. Because guys, right now the Knicks have a secret weapon that people are still not really aware of outside of this organization, and he is getting ready to light the NBA world up as a member of the defending champs in the rotation. And guys, before we do get into why this matters so much, especially with contract extensions upcoming, the Knicks not wanting to go into the second apron, and also just the need for more depth at the frontcourt positions, there is so much going on with the Knicks right now, guys. And if you're part of that 66% that's not yet subscribed, it is completely free to do. We have Knicks videos every single day, and we're going to have a ton of fun while making them. But guys, jumping into the video, there's one thing that Knicks fans are aware of that very few other NBA fans know. Mohamed Diawara, who just had his rookie season with the Knicks, finishing off in a championship, is a future NBA star. Now that is something that most Knicks fans are well aware of. We've seen Diawara play. He got minutes as a rookie at points, but never consistently. He went from a guy who sometimes would jump into the rotation and show that even though he's raw, there's a lot of talent there, an excellent defender who played a great game on Super Bowl Sunday against specifically locking Jalen Brown up, but also giving the Knicks a bunch of three-pointers. The man is a great shooter at 6'9", he's a great athlete, he's a great defender, and is not afraid to put the ball on the floor and get aggressive when trying to score, while being a smart player who loves to do a drive and kick game. Overall, Diawara possesses all the tools of a modern NBA player, and the Knicks picked him 51st overall in the 2025 NBA Draft, so already looked like a steal when he showed to be a valuable NBA player in his first season, and looking like someone who's only going to get better because he still had a lot of raw talent. Now SNY discussed Diawara in further length recently, saying the second apron era of the NBA is here, and it's forcing teams to make tough decisions. The Knicks are no stranger to difficult choices. This offseason, the club did not retain backup center Mitchell Robinson in free agency due to the second apron. That problem won't disappear anytime soon, as New York has one of the most expensive teams in the NBA. Blooming contract extensions for Karl-Anthony Towns and Josh Hart are on the horizon. A solution to the salary cap crunch is player development, and the Knicks will need young players like Mohamed Diawara and Pakom Dadia to grow into legit rotation players in the future. On top of that, SNY did say that currently, Diawara and Dadia are set to earn a combined $5.6 million for the 2026-27 season. So far, the development of both players has varied. A second round pick in 2025, Diawara had some stints in New York's rotation before being glued to the bench for the latter part of the season in the playoffs because the Knicks were going with experience, which was obviously the right call. Overall, the 21-year-old forward has been a pleasant surprise. Diawara has a good feel for the game. The Knicks were impressed enough by the forward to resound to a four-year, $11.2 million contract. He has the potential to be a 3-and-D wing for the Knicks going forward. He has more potential than just a 3-and-D wing as well. Again, he puts the ball on the floor and he attacks the paint. He did have moments where he had a bit of timidness, but also that comes with being an NBA rookie if you're someone who's not used to always attacking the paint. But if he gets a smaller guy on him, he's going to post them up. He's going to use his talented post moves, stuff that's been polished when the Knicks drafted him. And overall, again, Diawara, he didn't play a ton. So it's tough to gauge everything off the minutes that he did play. What we did see is a guy who's ready to go, who's ready to now be in this Knicks rotation. He's 21 years old. He's had a year in the NBA. He's won an NBA championship. The Knicks have lost some depth. So a man who last year in nine minutes per game put up 3.5 points and 1.4 rebounds with an assist, shooting 42% from the field and 37% from three. Diawara has shown that he's now ready for a rotational job. Mike Brown will run 10-man rotations and Diawara will certainly be a part of it because we look at this team right now and we do have another young player, we'll mention Pacoma as well, but there's two other guys I do want to touch on as well in this video. But Diawara obviously is the focus. He's the centerpiece of the Knicks future. And there are other pieces, but right now we do look towards Moe because Moe is already shown to break into the rotation, something a lot of young guys have struggled with even after Tom Thibodeau was fired. Overall, when we look at this team right now, we know that Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, OG, Mikael, and Towns are going to start, there's no secret about that. In the backups, you've got Jose Alvarado, you've got Deuce McBride, you have Landry Shammott, you have Andre Drummond, all veteran guys, all guys who we know are going to play. Diawara is the other guy you slide in there because the other guys that you look at are the Landry Shammotts of the world, the Tyler Nichols, guys who are very, very young, or sorry, I said Landry Shammott twice, but obviously Landry Shammott's also in the rotation, he's their sixth man. The Tyler Colics, the Tyler Nichols of the world, the big man to be named later who they signed who's going to be a young guy most likely. Overall, there'll be interesting pieces, but it does surround Diawara right now because he was able to break into the rotation. Now it's tougher for the guards, it's tougher for Tyler Colic, it's tough for him specifically because the Knicks just paid Jose Alvarado, and they have Deuce McBride still, and maybe if McBride does get traded, the Knicks do use Colic and Alvarado together as kind of a two-guard set to just see how that works out while also using Tyler Nichols in the process. Also, when Deuce, if he does get traded, the Knicks will use Diawara in a similar role, a guy who can hit threes and score the ball while playing good defense. Now, is Diawara a point of attack defender? That's something we need to figure out. I kind of lean no, I view him more as a guy who's a great help defender, kind of a similar defensive profile to Mikael Bridges. Maybe he does become an OG on Inouye, but OG's a lot buffer, he's a lot, like, sturdier in the sense that Mikael's thinner, Mikael guards more guards, he guards more than one through the four. I think Diawara has more of that potential, too, to guard a one through a four, but I think he'd also be better at the two through four where Mikael can guard a power forward, but if they're a little bit bigger, you want Mikael guarding the one through three. Overall, Diawara's got a lot of good veterans around him. It's the reason why I want to show both Josh Hart and Mikael Bridges in this picture, one of the two reasons. Overall, Mikael's been a good mentor to all the young guys. Meanwhile, Josh Hart is a contract extension upcoming, so both these guys matter. Mikael, someone who's going to be able to help Diawara continue to grow, and Josh Hart, depending on the money, it depends on how many guys, frankly, do get ahead of Diawara that they could sign, and the answer is either way with Josh Hart's signs, the Knicks are going to need Diawara to pan out quite well, or they're going to need other guys to pan out, and Dadier has been yet to do so, so he's definitely a tougher one to kind of see working out. He's barely played. The Knicks have not given him a huge chance whatsoever. Kevin McCuller Jr. even played more time than him, and overall, when we look at Dadier, putting up 1.7 points and one rebound while shooting 22% for three is not going to cut at the NBA level. At the same time, speaking of McCuller Jr., he's someone who I think the Knicks should sign. If they find a way to dump McComb's $3 million that Dadier's making this season, if they could find a way to dump that for nothing, then I do think they should give Kevin McCuller a minimum deal. He's only played two years in the NBA, both on two-way contracts, but it doesn't matter. It's still two years of NBA service. So overall, the Knicks can give him a minimum. It will be cheaper than what they pay Dadier, too, because he was drafted 57th overall. 57? I think 55th. Excuse me. He was drafted 55th overall by the Knicks a couple years back, so the Knicks could use him in that role, but overall, it'd be cheaper. Again, him and Dadier were drafted in the same year, so McCuller would be a cheaper option. Gives the Knicks a little bit more financial flexibility. Is it night and day difference? No, but it does help at the end of the day, but also on top of it, what it's going to come down to is, as long as the Knicks keep this core together, which they will, they're going to need D'Awara and other young guys to step up so it can prevent them from ever going into the second apron and also seeing a future for this team once the current core starts to age out. But I do really, really fully believe we're going to see D'Awara in an everyday role, which I'm so excited for. I think he's going to blossom very quickly, and he's not going to be one of the better kept secrets for long in the NBA, but as of right now, he's still a secret weapon for the Knicks, one that is about to get unleashed onto the NBA world as the rich try to get even richer. Guys, like this video, subscribe, turn on post notifications so you don't miss a single video on Knicks Digest. Have a great day. Go Knicks. And guys, just in case you forgot, we are NBA champions after all. Still feels great.