Knicks Draft Pick Looking Worthy of Roster Spot

The New York Knicks are dead set on using the wide open Eastern Conference that lays before them to their benefit, rampaging through their peers in building on last season's momentus run to the conference finals.

They don't have much more wiggle room to keep improving, having already spent a fair share on their new coach in Mike Brown along with multiple depth pieces that will help the team cruise to the playoffs and, ideally, another championship, but there are certain avenues worth exploring.

New York's front office has spent the two weeks following the beginning of free agency by mulling over candidates to bring to the team using their veterans minimum exception, left to them by one savvy offseason agreement. That exception, while delectable, isn't all they have to work with.

They're also allowed enough room to exercise their second-round exception, $1.27 million to be spent on one of two recent draft picks looking to find an NBA home. There's James Nnaji, the foreign center with grown-man strength who's finally ready to begin his journey in the league well after his original draft date, and Mohamed Diawara, the team's most recent draft pick.

The No. 51 overall pick in last month's draft has received some burn in NBA Summer League, and has fought harder than anyone else on the court to prove that he's worth betting on in the long haul. Nnaji draws in eyes with his rippling muscles and impressive frame, but Diawara's pure fight for the ball as a ravaging defender and his athletic playmaking with the ball in his hands has stolen some of the spotlight.