Wednesday afternoon's NBA injury report revealed that New York Knicks wing Josh Hart was downgraded to doubtful for the club's upcoming matchup against the Utah Jazz for what is being described as left knee soreness.
Here in 2025-26, the veteran has proven integral to the Knicks' on-court successes and has been an absolute revelation since officially being thrust into the starting five.
Without question, should Hart be shelved, his absence from the Knicks will certainly be felt. Of course, in such a scenario, one should expect coach Mike Brown to turn toward surging rookie Mohamed Diawara to take on a large chunk of the 31-year-old's vacated minutes.
Knicks must give Mohamed Diawara an increased role if Josh Hart sits
Over the last several months, Diawara has found himself rising the league's ranks from draft night afterthought to, according to some, the biggest steal of the second round.
Of course, even with his production and surprise ascension, the 20-year-old still requires both more time and in-game experience to further hone his craft as an NBA player.
In a way, Hart's potential absence could provide him exactly that.
Despite his steady play through this point in the season, his minutes distribution has been anything but.
Some nights, Diawara will find himself eclipsing 15 minutes of play. Others, he'll finish in the single-digits.
Of course, when he has seen ample on-court action, his numbers have only managed to impress, as he's been posting 7.7 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 1.1 assists on 41.4 percent shooting from deep in 16.6 minutes a night over his last seven games.
For those who have watched the games, it should come as no surprise that he's ranked second on the Knicks in plus-minus throughout this stretch (8.7) among those who have played more than once.
Based on the eye test and statistics, both traditional and advanced, there seems to be a clear correlation between Diawara's level of play and the number of minutes he sees in a game.
Wednesday's contest should be viewed as a "get right" outing for the Knicks. This, along with the fact that Utah has been arguably the worst defense in the association this year, should only further encourage coach Brown to utilize his rotation's rising secret weapon in Diawara.
With Hart's 30.0 minutes per game presumably being up for grabs, expect the youngster to see a significant amount of time on the hardwood out in Salt Lake City.