The Knicks’ lone selection of the 2025 NBA Draft came one spot later than expected, as they flip-flopped the Nos. 50 and 51 picks with the Clippers and ended up with French PF Mohamed Diawara.
In the deal, which saw the Knicks send No. 50 pick Kobe Sanders to the Clippers for the No. 51 selection, the Knicks also get the draft rights to Luka Mitrovic, who has remained in Europe since being drafted in 2015.
This pick, acquired from Oklahoma City last year, was their lone selection after New York had traded both of the first-round picks they did have to Brooklyn last summer in the Mikal Bridges deal, and forfeited their own second-rounder as a result of a tampering investigation around their signing of Jalen Brunson.
Diawara, 20, has spent his four professional seasons in the French First Division, and averaged 5.8 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.4 assists last season for Cholet Basket in his only season with that squad.
He won a EuroCup Championship with Paris Basket, whom he spent his first three seasons with, in 2024, and has also represented France in international competition, helping them win bronze in the 2022 FIBA U-17 World Cup and gold in the 2024 FIBA U-20 EuroBasket.
Mitrovic, 32, was the final selection of the 2015 NBA Draft by Philadelphia, and his draft rights have gone from the Sixers to the Kings to the Clippers and now the Knicks. He has spent his entire pro career in Europe, playing in Serbia, Germany, Spain, Israel, and Montenegro.