Knicks Making Major Change...

The New York Knicks are defending champions at three and four to start this season and one of their most important players who helped them win a championship, Mikael Bridges, has famously struggled over the first seven games of this year and the Knicks, they have a 6-9 wing who shot 37% from three for that same championship team who has barely played this season. Muhammad Diawara, who through the first six games of the season had played one minute before playing a little bit against the Brooklyn Nets, but still, he's barely been used after showing he had a ton of potential. Last Friday in Philadelphia, he was one of six Knicks who did not play, a coach's decision, and the starter who got all the minutes, Mikael Bridges, was shooting 15 for 45 from the field before the Knicks and the Nets series got underway. So today, I'm going to show you why Bridges' slow start A rotation that isn't using its talent and a rookie who already showed us something are all the argument for Mohamed Diawara to play more minutes and to show that he is a breakout candidate, that he is someone who is going to be such an important Knick for years and years and years to come. And guys, I want this to happen. I want the Knicks to unleash their secret weapon and let's do just that. If things go the way that we all want them to, the New York Knicks are making a major change. We're going to start with Mikael Bridges right here because through six games, he has 37 points. That is 6.2 per night before the Brooklyn Nets game where he also only had seven points. He's shooting 33.3 from the field, 15 for 45, and 29.2% from three, 7 of 24. Now again, all these stats do come from before a Nets game where Bridges also did not play well. So there's really no difference in those numbers. And the first three games were the worst of it regardless. 10 points. In total, in 0 for 10 from 3 to start, and in the first 6 games of the season, the Knicks were combined for a minus 42 when he was on the floor. To be fair, I'm not saying he's done. Last season, he made 37% of his threes over 82 games, and Friday, he was better against the 76ers, had 12 points from 5 for 8 shooting, but he is a guy who got a 4-year, $150 million extension, and even good players go cold, and when he does, Mike Brown is not giving those minutes to him. And it feels like he has no one to give the minutes to when that's not true. And Brown is sticking with Bridges, and I think he honestly should in a lot of ways. After the Boston loss, he said, quote, Even Brown is a limit, though. In Chicago, he pulled Bridges with 8 minutes and 9 seconds left in the third quarter and never put him back in. The Knicks came back from 19 down without him. Look at Friday. Brunson played 35, Towns 35, Anunoby 34, Hart 31, Bridges 30, and Deuce McBride played 24. Brown is leaning on those six players for a large portion of the game. And a lot of you are feeling this. Mr. SanchezADB wrote on my last video, quote, the problem is Bridges is getting too much for what he's offering on the court. And I get the frustration, but I don't think the answer is just trading him or benching him. I think the answer is giving Brown a better way to survive a cold night. And if you guys want to survive all season with top-tier Knicks knowledge, make sure to subscribe to the channel. We are at 27,000. 984 subscribers the last time we checked at the time of making this video, which is just 16 away from 28K. Let's get there. Let's hit that mark and hit subscribe, guys. And speaking of the New York Knicks searching for answers, Kalshi has them at a 7% chance to win the NBA championship. If you think that's too low for the defending champs, that's exactly where Kalshi comes in. And I want to thank Kalshi for sponsoring today's video. On Kalshi, you're trading directly against other users. Not the house, like traditional sportsbooks. You're buying yes or no contracts on the outcomes of events across sports, politics, and even the weather, like the Knicks winning 50 or more games this season, which Kalshi has at a 55% chance. And guys, if you are interested in trying out Kalshi, use the link in the description. It's also in our pinned comment down below. Sign up using code DIGESTNBA, and you can get $55 when you trade your first 25. It's a great deal for you, and it helps the channel out a bunch as well. And now, the bigger problem. This isn't just about Mikal Bridges. It's about the Knicks not using the roster that they've built. Last Friday against the Philadelphia 76ers, the last time the Knicks lost a game, well, things were not looking great. They had six players who got a DNP, and that's Mohamed Diawara, James Wiseman, Dalton Knecht, McCollum, Dotier, Jaden Akins, and Tyler Nickel. On a team that, at that loss, was 2-4, and three of those guys are on two-way contracts and Knecht, Akins and Nickel. And the bench that did play was Shamet for 16 minutes, Tyler Kolek for 13, Andrew German for 12, and Jordan Clarkson for 9. That's three guards who were 6'5" or shorter and one center. And before the Orlando game, Mike Brown said, The first thing I want to make clear is that we have our starting lineup. Other than that, anybody can play. Anybody, it seems, except... Mohamed Diawara and Welbekome Dadié, who we know the Knicks have lost a lot of faith in. Hart's 31 years old, Anunoby's 29, Bridges is 30. These guys are all carrying minutes, and on the bench, the only players taller than 6'5", who get real minutes, are honestly two-way guys and Diawara, who I think we all thought was going to be in the rotation more. The one time Mike Brown went deep, it worked. In Chicago, Clarkson and Shamet scored 41 points together with 15 assists, along with Kolek as well. The three of them did it. I did not mention Kolek's name at first right there. And the Knicks, they came back from down 19 points. So the bench can play, but look at who they are. A 6'2" guard in Kolek, a 6'0" guard in Alvarado, a 6'5" guard wing in Shamet, and a 6'5" guard wing in Jordan Clarkson. They're all small, and fans noticed. Nick P8943 wrote, Does this team believe in anybody over 6'5? And it's a fair question, because size matters when games get tight. Against Orlando, the Knicks were up 10 with nine minutes left. Then Franz Wagner scored 21 of his 23 points in the fourth, and Orlando won the quarter 40-27 and ultimately won the game. When a big wing gets going, there's nobody on that bench with the length to bother. That's the hole for a 6-9 forward. So why haven't they played Mohamed Diawara? Well, let's look at him. He's 21, he's 6'9", he's from Paris, the Clippers took him with the 51st overall pick in the 2025 draft, and the Knicks traded for his draft rights. As a rookie, he played 69 games for a team that won the NBA Cup and then the NBA Championship. That almost never happens for the 51st overall pick. Let's start with the shooting. 61% of his shots last year were threes and he made 36.9% of them. His true shooting was a 55 and he turned it over on just 11.8% of his possessions. He takes the open shot and he doesn't force anything and he doesn't command the ball. And when he got a real chance, he took it. Last December against the Pelicans, he scored 18 points on 7 of 9 shooting, and he went 4 for 4 from 3. Per 36 minutes last season, he averaged 14 points and 5.3 rebounds. On defense, he was about average, a plus .1 defensive box plus minus, and an average is rare for a 20-year-old wing in his first season, especially picked that late in the draft. And some of you aren't sold. Patrick I.M. 149 wrote, Tidjane Mo Faye don't show much. Respectfully, he had played one minute up to that point. There's nothing there to show yet. Mike Brown has even said what he sees. On October 3rd, he said his cadence is better. He has a better feel for not only what he should do, but what his teammates should be doing. And Brown told us exactly what he wants from him. He said Diawara needs to take a step forward, but you can't take a step forward at the end of the bench. He said he had one minute in the Detroit game before playing a couple against Brooklyn, and that's been it. And he's cheap. He re-signed this summer for four years and about $10 million, $2.5 million per year. For a team that said it won't spend above the second apron, that's a gift if you can have him as a rotational player. So why is he not? And the Knicks don't need him to be a star. 12 to 15 minutes a night would do it. Spell Bridges when he's cold. Give Hart and Ananobi a breather and put real size next to McBride and Kolek and Shamit with that second unit. Here's how I would do it. Bring him in around the six-minute mark of the first quarter for harder on Anobi and play him next to Kolek, McBride, and Chatman to open the second. If he's making his open threes and staying in front of people, keep him in the game. Let him play. If he's not, you pull him after eight minutes, you've lost nothing, and you have other wings like Pacome Dadiet, like Dalton Knecht, like Tyler Nicholls, like Jaden McDaniels, who can all be put in the game if you need them to. And then there's the risk. He only played 43 minutes in last spring's playoffs, and Brown hasn't trusted him yet. But Brown also didn't trust Tyler Kolek. at first either, and Kolek has become one of the best surprises of the season. And think about what it costs. Nothing at all. He's already on the roster. He's already paid. If he plays badly, you learn that in November, not in May when the playoff rotation matters. And you keep playing him a little bit here and a little bit there to see if he can get things going. And that 43-minute playoff sample is exactly why the Knicks should find out right now. Now, also, I do want to go to the comment of the day, which is from Juan Negron 8053, Quote, get Bridges off this team, trade him for a ham sandwich, start Diawara. And I'm not going to go all the way to that, not just because I don't eat meat, Juan. I am not going to ask Diawara to start. I think McHale is going to be just fine. I really am. But why are we not playing Diawara when the Knicks decide to sit McHale? Expand the rotation. Use your young guy. He's talented. He can shoot. His defense is going to grow with his size and his frame. Why not try it? So here's my verdict. Sometimes Bridges goes cold. He's cold right now. The Knicks, they're 3-4, and Brown has played six players while sitting a 6-9 shooter who produced on a title team. Overall, DOR gives him shooting, size, and a cheap contract. Getting him to 12-15 minutes should be the next move for the Knicks because it'll be huge for them down the line. One minute in the first six games, a couple minutes against Brooklyn for a 21-year-old who showed us this much as a rookie just doesn't make sense to me. Let the kid play. So tell me in the comments, should Mohamed Diawara start to get real minutes? Yes or no? Guys, like this video, subscribe, turn on post notifications. Have a great day.