The Knicks and restricted free agent forward Mohamed Diawara have agreed to a multiyear contract worth $10MM+, according to Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).
While Charania doesn’t clarify the specific terms of Diawara’s contract, the Knicks only had his Non-Bird rights, limiting what they could offer him. A three-year Non-Bird deal would fall well short of $10MM+, so unless Charania’s sources are overstating the value of the deal or New York intends to dip into its taxpayer mid-level exception, it sounds like the forward will receive a four-year contract worth the minimum or slightly above it.
Ian Begley of SNY.tv hears the contract hasn’t been finalized yet but it’s expected to be completed (Twitter link).
According to Begley’s sources, Diawara was expected to receive interest from multiple teams in restricted free agency. As Luke Adams detailed in our Offseason Preview this morning, a rival team theoretically could have put New York in a bind by offering Diawara a contract out of the Knicks’ price range.
Diawara was in an unusual contract situation. New York acquired his rights last year in a draft-day trade with the Clippers and then signed the French small forward to a non-guaranteed Exhibit 10 contract before converting him to a one-year deal for the rookie minimum in order to stay below their second-apron hard cap.
That one-year deal meant Diawara was able to hit free agency — even if he was restricted — sooner than most draftees who sign standard deals. The norm in that situation is a multiyear contract for more team control.
However, the 21-year-old will reportedly be returning to the Knicks after a promising rookie campaign in which showed flashes of promise as a three-and-D player. The 6’9″ forward averaged 3.6 points and 1.4 rebounds while shooting 36.9% from long distance in 69 games (9.2 minutes per contest).
New York could have up to 10 free agents this summer as it looks to defend its championship in 2026/27.
