OG Anunoby’s toenail is still missing, but he’ll be back in the starting lineup.
Jeremy Sochan arrived and, according to coach Mike Brown, “will get an opportunity.”
So who is the odd man out?
It sounds like rookie Mohamed Diawara.
“I’ll play young guys, and I have played young guys in front of vets before,” the Knicks coach said. “But I’m going to give Jeremy an opportunity.”
Diawara, 20, has been a pleasant surprise this season while filling in for injured teammates, flashing two-way potential with a 7-foot-4 wingspan and averaging 20 minutes in the past five games.
He’s shooting 41.3 percent on 3s and coming off a strong performance in a victory over the 76ers, the last game before the Knicks signed Sochan, a 6-foot-8 defensive specialist who plays the same power forward position as Diawara.
Brown explained that Sochan, who is just 22 but in his fourth NBA season, gets the edge because of his experience and since there are just two months to determine his value for the postseason.
Both Diawara and Sochan are free agents in the summer.
“[Sochan] knows the league. The league knows him. He knows the officials and vice versa. So he’s going to get an opportunity,” Brown said. “But at the end of the day, I’m going to play who I think is best for us. Right now Jeremy is new. He hasn’t played for us. So I have to see rather quickly what we have in him before going to the playoffs.”
Still, there are no guarantees of even a short-term sizable role for even Sochan.
With Anunoby returning from a four-game absence for Thursday’s big showdown against the Pistons, the Knicks are fully healthy in the frontcourt.
That means Sochan’s minutes will be squeezed in among those of Anunoby, Josh Hart, Karl-Anthony Towns and Mitchell Robinson.
Brown will put the puzzle together with an eye on getting the newcomer on the court.
“I’m not sure how many minutes I’m going to play him, but I plan on trying to use him,” Brown said. “And hopefully we get to a point where he’s versatile enough to play one through five for us.”
Brown’s conversations with Sochan helped push the power forward to sign with the Knicks despite other suitors.
“When you look at Jeremy, you like his size right off the bat,” the coach said. “Especially for a power forward. OG is of that size. But nobody else really is of that size. And you look at the versatility, over the years he’s been able to guard [every position]. So to have that versatility on that end of the floor — it’s huge. Especially if OG is out. We’re a lot smaller if a guy like OG or Josh are both out. And then [Sochan’s] energy, his physicality — all those things that don’t necessarily show up in a stat sheet, in my opinion — would be welcomed by any team, and we were lucky to get him.”
Brown had already removed point guard Tyler Kolek, a 2024 second-round pick, from the rotation to accommodate the arrival of Jose Alvarado.
Sochan’s role seemed less certain after he was cast aside in San Antonio amid shooting struggles and the emergence of a replacement, rookie Carter Bryant.
In New York, Sochan will get a chance to win a role back and a rookie will take a step back.
“We’ve talked a lot and it’s just seizing whatever opportunity I can get,” Sochan said. “And I think one of the reasons I picked New York is it’s a really deep roster, a lot of really talented players. I think it’s a pretty cool opportunity to watch and grow from that too. I think I’m still young, too. So just being around players who have established themselves and have done a lot of stuff in this league is a crazy opportunity for me. … I do believe in myself and I do believe I can do well on the court, too. But I do look at it in the bigger picture. And what’s happening here, I think I can be a part of it.”
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