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Mohamed Diawara #51 of the New York Knicks

The New York Knicks are heading into the NBA playoffs with a first-round matchup against the Atlanta Hawks and a heap of pressure weighing down the opening of this postseason. The gauntlet has been thrown, and the expectation is that the Knicks will reach the NBA Finals, and–as owner James Dolan declared last month–“should win” the championship. In that regard, maybe the demotion of rookie Mohamed Diawara makes sense.

In recent weeks, coach Mike Brown has chosen to play veteran Jordan Clarkson significant minutes off the bench for the Knicks, as he has tightened his playoff rotation and seems intent to going more with experience rather than youthful talent. Along with the starting five, the rotation will include Clarkson, center Mitchell Robinson, guard Landry Shamet and fellow guard Deuce McBride.

It won’t include Diawara, though, despite a surprising level of production from the No. 51 pick in last year’s draft.  Diawara played 69 games this year, including seven starts, and averaged 9.7 minutes. He averaged just 3.6 points but shot 36.9% from the 3-point line and plays excellent defense. And there are some questions being raised about why, exactly, Diawara will not be in the rotation, at least at the outset of the playoffs.

Knicks ‘Conspiracy Theories’ Crop Up

It’s an issue that Knicks beat writer Kristian Winfield of the New York Daily News raised at the beginning of the month. New York may well be sidelining Diawara not because he’s not worth a rotation spot, but because the team is angling to keep him in place after signing him to only a one-year contract after last year’s draft.

Wrote Winfield: “This is where the conspiracy theories begin to grit their teeth. Because Diawara is on a one-year second-round pick rookie deal and will become a restricted free agent next summer. The Knicks will not have room on their payroll to stay beneath the second apron, re-sign Mitchell Robinson to a contract extension and match a competing offer when Diawara becomes a free agent. At least not if the plan is to keep the roster intact as currently constructed.”

In other words, with the Knicks flirting with the second apron, the goal is to suppress Diawara’s minutes and keep him from getting significant contract offers in the summer, allowing New York to bring him back on a rock-bottom deal.

‘They’ve Stopped Playing Mohamed Diawara’

That notion was repeated, too, on the SNY Knicks podcast “The Putback” with Ian Begley. ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, attributing the accusation to others around the NBA, also floated the idea that the Knicks pulled the plug on Diawara’s minutes because they want to push down his free-agent value.

Said Windhorst: “There’s been some chatter within the league for the last few weeks about why they’ve stopped playing Mohamed Diawara, who they did a great job drafting. … Diawara only signed a one-year contract, which was surprising, and he’s been very good.

“Some people in the league, and I want to be clear, I am not saying this, I am saying that some people in the league wondered about whether the Knicks are trying to hide Diawara a little bit. Because they know he is going to be restricted. The Knicks have certain rights to him but because of what they’re paying elsewhere, it may be a difficult thing to keep him. So down the stretch of the season, we didn’t see him playing as much.”

Now, apparently, that will carry over into the Knicks’ playoff run.