Mohamed Diawara’s first Knicks preseason showing was more about the little stuff than the box score.
The 21-year-old forward logged 17:29 in Monday’s 120-97 loss at Philadelphia and finished with eight points, five rebounds, a steal and a block. He shot 4-for-8 from the field and missed all three of his 3-point tries, which gives New York something worth watching without pretending it found a finished product.
That’s the real takeaway from a night like this: Diawara doesn’t have to chase points to matter. He has to make the smaller jobs reliable enough that Mike Brown can trust him when the rotation minutes get tighter. Rebounding, helping on defense and finishing possessions are the kinds of things that can keep a young forward on the floor.
The defensive plays showed a path to usefulness without requiring the offense to run through him. The steal and block matter, but they don’t tell the whole story. The Knicks will also be watching the possessions that didn’t produce a stat, because that’s often where a reserve forward earns or loses trust.
There was enough there to see a player who can contribute even if the shot isn’t falling. Five rebounds in under 18 minutes is no small thing, and four made baskets kept the night from being defined entirely by the missed threes.
Still, the shooting has to come along. A wing who can’t be respected from deep makes life harder for everyone else on the floor. Three misses in an exhibition don’t lock that in, but they do make the next game more revealing.
The cleaner path is probably the simplest one: one defensive assignment, straightforward offensive decisions, and a chance to see if the energy holds up with different teammates around him. That’s a better way to measure a young player than asking him to patch every bench need at once.
Diawara also had two turnovers and no assists, so the night wasn’t spotless. The useful parts were real, but so were the rough edges. If he’s going to be more than a preseason flash, the ball security and decision-making have to sharpen too.
The Knicks host Washington on October 8, giving Brown another look at Diawara in a different lineup. No permanent rotation spot has been announced, but the next outing will tell more about whether the rebounding and defensive activity can travel.
For now, the appeal is pretty clear: he may be able to help a good group stay good for a few minutes while a veteran rests. That’s a meaningful role for a young player, and it’s the kind of progress the Knicks can actually build on.
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