Mohamed Diawara is staying in New York, and now the paperwork is done.
The Knicks announced July 6 that Diawara has formally completed his new contract, locking in the restricted free agent forward on a four-year deal. Fred Katz of The Athletic reported the contract is worth $11.2 million, with a source telling him the first two seasons are fully guaranteed. Katz also added that Diawara’s starting salary will be $2.6 million, which is above the minimum.
That follows the June 22 reporting from Shams Charania of ESPN that Diawara and the Knicks had agreed to a multiyear contract worth $10 million-plus. At the time, the exact structure wasn’t clear, but New York only had Diawara’s Non-Bird rights, which limited the team’s options. A three-year Non-Bird deal would not have come close to that figure, so the expectation was that the forward would land a four-year contract at the minimum or just above it, unless the Knicks used their taxpayer mid-level exception.
Ian Begley of SNY.tv later reported that the deal still needed to be finalized, though it was expected to get done.
Diawara’s path to this point was a little unusual. The Knicks got his rights in a draft-day trade with the Clippers last year, then signed the French small forward to a non-guaranteed Exhibit 10 contract before converting him to a one-year rookie-minimum deal to remain under their second-apron hard cap.
That short-term arrangement opened the door for Diawara to reach free agency earlier than most players in his spot, even as a restricted free agent. Normally, a player in that situation would be headed toward a multiyear deal that gives the team more control.
Instead, the 21-year-old is back with the Knicks after a rookie season that offered some real promise as a three-and-D option. In 69 games, Diawara averaged 3.6 points and 1.4 rebounds while shooting 36.9% from three-point range in 9.2 minutes per game.
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