00:00Okay, more off-season news coming for the Knicks, and we haven't even hit the NBA draft yet.
00:05Sham Sharani of ESPN reporting that restricted free agent forward Muhammad D'Awara intends to sign a multi-year $10
00:14-plus million deal to stay with the Knicks.
00:18This is huge for the Knicks, and it's huge that they got this business done early with Muhammad D'Awara.
00:24Now, I've been very high on Muhammad D'Awara.
00:25I talked about this on the last episode of New York Got Game, saying that the Knicks had to bring
00:30him back.
00:31If they bring him back, he's a young player who I think can have a bigger role than he did
00:36as a rookie in year two.
00:38Now, we'll see.
00:39But look, this is huge for the Knicks because he was a bright spot.
00:43And look, there were many bright spots for the Knicks.
00:45They just won the championship.
00:46But this was a guy who was the 51st pick in last year's NBA draft.
00:50And most people thought when he got picked, okay, this is a guy they're going to stash away.
00:55It's a draft and stash guy.
00:56But he got to training camp.
00:58The Knicks were very impressed with how he played.
01:00I spoke to an international scout after the draft, and he said, look, this guy is raw.
01:06He's got great tools, great defensive instincts, but the shooting has to come along.
01:10And when you look at his numbers from this past season, the 25-26 season, look, he averaged 3.6
01:17points per game.
01:17He shot 36% from downtown, which was a shock for a lot of people and a huge bright spot
01:23for the Knicks.
01:24And then the biggest thing for me was he never looked lost on the court.
01:27I talked about this a ton during the season, how he didn't look lost.
01:30He understood the game.
01:32He knew when to cut.
01:33He was very good defensively, as I mentioned.
01:35And the coaching staff was really impressed with him.
01:37And they trusted him.
01:38Mike Brown trusted him because he played him a good amount of times.
01:41This guy played in 69 games as a rookie.
01:43He was the 51st overall pick, which shows you and is very important before the draft that you can truly
01:49find value anywhere.
01:51And when you are the Knicks, a team that's just won the championship and possibly trying to avoid the second
01:57apron, and I'll get into that in a bit, you have to hit on these late draft picks.
02:02You have to find the value.
02:04You have to have guys you can develop.
02:05So we don't know the exact terms of the multi-year deal.
02:09Could be two years, could be three years.
02:11But at 10-plus million, if that puts him at pretty good value for what he probably was going to
02:17get in the open market, I'm sure there were teams that could have offered him more.
02:20But it was known throughout the organization and from a lot of people that Muhammad Diawara liked being here.
02:25He's a young man that's very focused, very ambitious.
02:28I had a chance to talk with him one-on-one earlier this past season.
02:32And he's a guy who has really, really high ambitions for himself and what he can do.
02:37And the Knicks feel that way, too.
02:38So like I said, look, this is a guy who was going to get significant interest from other teams, right?
02:43You knew this was going to happen, but he really liked being in New York.
02:48And so I think the Knicks felt they could absolutely bring him back.
02:51And he started becoming a regular rotation player.
02:54Now I think if you're a Knicks fan, you're thinking, OK, can this guy contribute more for this team next
02:59year?
03:00And I would say, yes, definitely he can.
03:02I think he has a bright future.
03:04And right now he's got that.
03:06Now here's the key thing with this deal.
03:08Again, we do not know all the details of this multi-year deal.
03:12But it appears, it appears from looking at the way it possibly could be structured, that it is a non
03:18-Bird rights contract as opposed to a taxpayer mid-level exception contract.
03:24Now, why does that matter?
03:26Why is this big for the Knicks in this way?
03:29Well, the taxpayer mid-level exception contract, that would cap the Knicks at the second apron this coming season, right?
03:35This offseason.
03:36This is not what the Knicks would want.
03:38But because they've done this, this allows them to exceed the second apron if they choose to do so.
03:46Now, we heard James Dolan say on WFAN recently, he doesn't want to exceed the second apron.
03:54We'll see if he does that or not.
03:55But why does this huge, you're able to retain a young talent in Mohamed Diawara.
04:00And if you did sign him to a taxpayer mid-level exception contract and not a non-Bird rights contract,
04:07then you would not have been able to overpay to re-sign Mitchell Robinson and exceed the second apron.
04:14You would not also be able to, very likely, exceed the second apron to sign Landry Schammett.
04:21So, that would have constricted you there.
04:23But because this is a non-Bird rights contract, as opposed to a taxpayer mid-level exception contract, you can
04:30exceed the second apron.
04:31So, it gives the Knicks a little bit more flexibility if they want to do that.
04:34They can keep a young player, Mohamed Diawara.
04:36They can bring back, hopefully, a Mitchell Robinson and or a Landry Schammett or both.
04:41Jose Alvarado, who has pushed the deadline back on his $4.5 million player option.
04:47There's more flexibility there.
04:49I explained that in a social video we put out earlier.
04:52He could decline the player option.
04:55He could take a little bit less, get a multi-year deal, add a lower average annual value, but maybe
05:00you get an extra year.
05:01So, get a three-year deal instead of a two-year deal if that's what he's looking for.
05:05So, this gives the Knicks a lot of options before they draft on Tuesday and or Wednesday, depending on what
05:11they do with their picks.
05:12It also could give the Knicks more flexibility to trade their picks on draft either of these draft nights because
05:18they could look at it and say, hey, Diawara is a guy who's the 51st overall pick in 2025, but
05:23he has given us basically first-round talent.
05:27We hit on a first-rounder last year, and now we don't necessarily need to do it.
05:31They might look to trade pick number 24 and maybe get Malt a future first or future seconds out of
05:37that.
05:38Then they might want to keep pick 31 and try to see if they can get a player that they
05:42could fit into their cap structure that would be a little bit cheaper as the 31st overall pick.
05:48Maybe you get somebody who is, like Diawara, a first-round talent, but you get him in the second round.
05:53All these things are moves that can help the Knicks and help their books as they go forward, whether they
05:58decide to exceed the second apron or not.
06:01All in all, this is a great move for the Knicks and one you'd like to see even get better.
06:09Now, the development of Muhammad Diawara going forward is going to matter a ton.
06:12We're going to see how he develops, but I really have been someone who's liked his talent.
06:17The Knicks like his talent. I think he could develop. This is a win for the Knicks.
06:20It was a win for the Knicks when they got him at 51 and for him to show the progress
06:25that he showed throughout the 2025-2026 season.
06:28Now, you want to see if he could do more, but it is important that the Knicks got this done
06:33and they got this done early because now they have the pathway.
06:36They can see options of what they can do on draft night.
06:39Now, all the attention is going to turn to draft night, and what do the Knicks do on draft night?
06:43I don't think it's likely that they will make three picks.
06:47I don't see that as a very likely option, but I do think they still need to get one pick
06:52that maybe they can get at low cost and hopefully develop that person and see if they can help this
06:57roster as they try to go back to back in the 2026-2027 season.
07:02But if you were worried about Muhammad Diawara not coming back with the Knicks, if you're a Knicks fan, you
07:08can not worry about that anymore.
07:10You should be put at ease as he is signing a multi-year $10-plus million deal.
07:14More details on that to come later.
07:16But this is a good move for Diawara to stay with the Knicks, for them to continue to develop him,
07:22and also for them, the Knicks, to continue the optionality and flexibility that they can have going forward this offseason.
Comments