Mohamed Diawara’s moment is coming. Jeremy Sochan’s is coming first.
It’s a case by case basis for the Knicks leaning towards the player with more experience, more size and a bit more strength, head coach Mike Brown told reporters after practice on Thursday in ahead of Friday’s matchup against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
“It could be Jeremy tonight. It could be Mo tomorrow night,” Brown said. “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.”
Brown, however, made it clear the standout rookie from France will get his opportunity, and soon.
“But Mo is coming. And I say Mo is coming because everybody needs to understand that,” he said. “Not just Jeremy. But everybody. Because Mo is coming.”
The cut to Diawara’s well-deserved first-year minutes was expected when the Knicks signed Sochan, a versatile fourth-year forward who became a free agent when the San Antonio Spurs waived him after the Feb. 5 NBA Trade Deadline.
Diawara’s numbers, as expected, have regressed since the minutes cut. He averaged 21.5 minutes in the four games leading into the Sochan addition, with 7.8 points on 46.7% shooting from deep on his resume over that stretch.
Since then, he’s scored just seven points in 21 total minutes and made one of his five 3s over the three games leading into Friday’s matchup against the Cavaliers. A player Brown has entrusted with starting lineup responsibilities in spots this season is on the periphery of his rotation.
“Yes, it can [hurt his confidence]. But that’s my job more than anybody else’s is to make sure I communicate with him and anybody else when that happens,” said Brown. “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 hurt his confidence] 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.
“And like I said, the biggest one is, ‘You’re starting tonight.’ He might not even play two games and it might be a ‘big game.’ And he’s just like, OK. And the way he plays, it’s OK. He’s a pretty confident young guy.”
The Spurs selected the 6-8 Sochan, 22, ninth-overall in the 2022 NBA Draft. The Knicks drafted Diawara, 6-9, 51st overall last June.
Sochan has career averages of 10.2 points and 2.4 rebounds in 25 minutes per game but is not a known 3-point shooter and fell out of the Spurs’ rotation as the organization built around Victor Wembanyama.
Diawara has played 15 or more minutes in eight games this season. He is averaging 8.6 points, three rebounds, 0.8 steals and 0.4 blocks on 48.3% shooting from 3-point range in those games.
