Mohamed Diawara’s first two Summer League games were rough enough to make Knicks fans squirm, but there’s a strong case for not letting those performances change the bigger picture.
New York’s decision to re-sign the 21 year-old to a four-year, $11.2 million contract already says plenty about how the team views him. The Knicks clearly believe in what Diawara is now, and just as importantly, what he can become.
That’s why the numbers from Vegas jumped off the page. In two games, Diawara averaged 3.5 ppg, 3.5 rpg, and 1.0 apg while shooting 7.1% from the field and 10% from three. For a second-year player trying to carve out a rotation role on a contender, that’s a brutal line.
And yes, the eye test matched the stat sheet. Instead of the flashes that had caught attention before, Diawara showed hesitation, missed shots, and a lack of assertiveness. For a Knicks Summer League group that didn’t offer many must-watch names, he was one of the few reasons to tune in - and he didn’t deliver.
Still, those games are a tiny slice of the story.
They were only two exhibitions, and they came in a setting that can be messy and disjointed even for players who are more comfortable in their roles. Diawara, a 3-and-D connective piece, was also asked to do something far outside his usual lane: initiate the offense for long stretches.
That matters. Summer League can be a proving ground for rookies and other unproven players, but it can also force developing guys into jobs they won’t have when the real games start. That was the case here.
Diawara is not going to be asked to run an offense next season. If he ever has to start because of an emergency, he’ll be far down the pecking order. Even off the bench, he’ll mostly be playing alongside Jose Alvarado, who is excellent at running the offense.
What made Diawara useful in his limited rotation minutes last season was much simpler: he finished plays, he didn’t overcomplicate things, and he fit. He knocked down open shots, made the right passes, attacked close outs, and finished in transition.
That’s the version the Knicks need. Not a point forward carrying possessions and navigating pick-and-rolls, but a smart, hard-playing connector who can defend, move the ball, and hit enough shots to stay on the floor.
The Summer League games showed there’s still a long way to go before Diawara becomes the Pascal Siakam-esque versatile point forward some believe he can grow into. But that was always going to be the case.
For now, the standard is much more straightforward: defend hard, play smart, make the correct passes, and shoot the ball well enough. He did those things last season. That larger sample matters a lot more than two shaky games in a role he won’t be asked to fill.
So the reaction should be disappointment, not panic. Diawara is 21, he’s on a four-year contract with only the first two seasons guaranteed, and he’s on a Knicks roster with enough good players to keep his responsibilities manageable while he develops.
This was only the first test after his extension. He failed it, but in a low-leverage setting, that looks more like growing pains than a warning sign.
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