The New York Knicks delivered rookie Mo Diawara his first NBA reality check in the form of some bad news at the trade deadline. While he wasn't moved to any other teams, he did slide back on the depth chart when the team signed Jeremy Sochan out of the buyout market. Head coach Mike Brown has said that he doesn't have much time left to figure out what the group can get out of Sochan, making it important to give him opportunities now. But even though those chances are coming at the cost of Diawara's minutes, Brown seems confident the Knicks rookie will get a chance to shine soon enough.
Brown backs rookie Diawara amid rotational changes
Brown effectively sent a warning to the rest of the league when most recently discussing Diawara. The coach said that while it might not currently be his moment, his time is definitely going to come.
"Mo is coming. And I say Mo is coming because everybody needs to understand that. Not just Jeremy, but everybody. Because Mo is coming," the coach told media members after Thursday's practice in Milwaukee. The Knicks play the Bucks on Friday, another game in which Diawara might see a decreased role in favor of Sochan.
Despite decreasing the rookie's role in the rotation to help get a sense of what the front office just brought to the table in Sochan, the coach was clear that he believes in Diawara developmentally. He also acknowledged why it isn't entirely ridiculous for him to play the newest Knick over the intriguing rookie.
“It could be Jeremy tonight. It could be Mo tomorrow night. Mo has played well. He’s gotten better. Jeremy just hasn’t had an opportunity to. And the biggest thing is, obviously between the two guys is Jeremy is in his fourth season, and he’s a little bigger. He’s a little stronger and he knows the league a little bit better," the coach told reporters including the New York Daily News' Kristian Winfield.
Brown affirmed his faith in Diawara with more than just vague praise, too. He said the rookie already seems to have the mental makeup of a true veteran, which allows him flexibility as the Knicks' coach.
"There’s a part of me, and I could be wrong about this. But there’s a part of me that doesn’t think it will, because I started him. And I thought it would rattle him. It doesn’t rattle him. I bring him off the bench in the first half. And then I don’t play him at all in the second half. And I throw him out there the next game. The dude, at least my experience doing those things with him, he doesn’t get rattled," Brown said.
The playoffs are just a couple of months away, but the Knicks still have time to figure out exactly what configurations of their talent work best. Fans hope that Diawara will be part of Brown's equation come the postseason, but if he's not – it just means that Sochan is playing that well. You'd have to try pretty hard to be able to spin any of this negatively. More depth is good for the Knicks: especially these Knicks.