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CHICAGO — Mike Brown said he’s waiting for the Knicks to get back “on track” before incorporating some of the younger players — specifically Mo Diawara and Pacôme Dadiet.
“It’s tough because going into the season early on, one of [the] things I wanted to experiment with is playing 10 or 10 ½ guys [as my rotation],” Brown said. “And Mo is in that mix. Mo and Pac. Give them different opportunities at different times. And we experimented with different stuff and our players not getting it done caused us to start off a little slow.
“So to get us on track, we’re going to hold the fort down with a veteran group of guys. Hopefully we get to the point sooner than later that I can start throwing those [young] guys out there.”
The Knicks lost their first three games before blowing past the Pistons on Tuesday, a rough beginning for the defending champs.
Brown, meanwhile, has warned in his news conferences, at least twice, that the bench rotation is fluid.
Spots can be won or lost. The coach proved it already by benching Andre Drummond, a demotion that only lasted about a half against the Magic. Still, Brown’s nine- to 10-man rotation had been fairly consistent heading into Wednesday against the Bulls, with the one wrinkle being Tyler Kolek’s inclusion because Jose Alvarado missed three straight games with an ankle sprain.
With everybody healthy, it looked like this:
PG: Jalen Brunson, Alvarado
SG: Mikal Bridges, Miles McBride, Jordan Clarkson
SF: Josh Hart, Landry Shamet
PF: OG Anunoby
C: Karl-Anthony Towns, Drummond
Notably absent from virtually any playing time was Diawara, a rangy forward who was a bit of a revelation as a second-round pick last season but lost his rotation spot before the playoffs. Diawara earned a new contract — four years, $11.3 million (only half guaranteed) — but not more playing time.
At least not yet.
Diawara’s would-be minutes were going to Clarkson, the rotation’s 10th man. However, Brown only went with nine players in Tuesday’s victory over the Pistons — leaving Clarkson with his first DNP.
“Our starting five is what it is,” Brown said. “But everybody else after that, until we find something that’s working consistently, I’m going to try to give different guys opportunities.”
In the bigger picture, the rotation underscores how the Knicks weren’t created through the draft. Following Mitchell Robinson’s defection to Beantown, they’re down to just one homegrown pick as a rotation player — McBride. Kolek, who played a combined 26 minutes in the two games prior to Wednesday, might be the last hope of the 2024 draft class.
Dadiet (the 25th pick that year) is out of the rotation and headed toward free agency if, as assumed, the Knicks don’t pick up next season’s contract by Saturday’s deadline. Kevin McCullar Jr. (56th pick) was waived last week. Ariel Hukporti (58th) left for the Sixers in free agency.
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Part of this is the product of the second apron. The Knicks traded out of the first round this year because it would’ve been more expensive to make the pick. In 2024, they drafted Dadiet in the first round because he was willing to sign for less money.
A year ago, the main reason the Knicks inked Diawara to a standard contract was his low salary, just to stay under the apron. Then he unexpectedly cracked the rotation. Now Diawara has to wait for the Knicks to settle in comfortably before his next opportunity.
