Everyone is talking about the stars trying to repeat, while a quiet second-year defender might decide how fresh they are in June.
The New York Knicks enter this season with the biggest names in the sport, from guard Jalen Brunson to the rest of a starting five that just delivered a championship.
Almost nobody is talking about forward Mohamed Diawara, and that is a mistake.
The second-year man out of Paris might be the most important depth piece on the roster, and at least one national outlet has noticed the same thing ahead of training camp.
Overlooked players on championship teams tend to stay overlooked right up until the moment the rotation needs them, which is exactly the moment this team is planning for.
The Breakout Case
Bleacher Report's Greg Swartz named Diawara the Knicks' top breakout candidate for 2026-27 this week, and his reasoning starts with the grind of defending a title.
"Regular season fatigue is bound to set in at some point for the defending champion New York Knicks. When it does, the franchise will need players like Mohamed Diawara to help provide a spark."
The numbers from Diawara's rookie year look modest at first glance, with 3.6 points in 9.2 minutes across 69 games.
The details underneath are what caught Swartz's eye.
Per his breakdown, Diawara hit 57.6 percent of his corner threes last season, which made him a trustworthy landing spot for Brunson's kickout passes, and his defense at 6-foot-9 is already the strength that earns him minutes.
New York won 53 games and the title with Diawara playing a small role, so the flashes came in games that meant something.
A Bench That Changed
The path to more minutes opened the moment center Mitchell Robinson left for Boston in July.
Center Andre Drummond arrived to fill the spot, and Swartz points out that Diawara will now share second units with Drummond, a pairing that asks the young forward to cover more ground defensively than Robinson's shot-blocking ever did.
That is a bigger job description, and it is exactly how role players break out, since minutes tend to find whoever solves the problem in front of the coaching staff.
There is also plain wear and tear to think about.
The Knicks played deep into June, and some around the team believe they are being doubted even after raising the banner.
Repeating requires the stars to arrive in the spring with legs, which means someone has to soak up regular-season minutes in December and January.
Diawara is the cheapest, freshest candidate for those minutes on the roster.
What a Breakout Actually Looks Like
Nobody should expect Diawara to average 15 points, and Swartz does not either, projecting the growth to come mostly on the defensive end while the offense expands slowly.
The realistic version is a dependable eighth man in the mold of past Knicks X factors, a wing who guards multiple positions, hits the open corner three and lets the champs rest their stars without losing ground.
None of that requires a leap of faith, just minutes, and minutes are the one thing a long title defense always ends up handing out.
Championship teams love finding that player in-house, and New York may have found its own a year early.
