The question of how the New York Knicks plan on filling out the edges of their upcoming season's roster has persisted past all of the other Knicks-related mysteries of the summer.
They spent in the early goings of free agency, and it looks like they stuck the landing with their head coaching hunt. They handed out extensions as they saw fit, leaving one remaining question: which prospects will make the 15-man roster come opening night?
Well, the Knicks may have shed some light onto how the lineup's depth will look like after the stars and the trusted role players with the regular season schedule rollout commencing. Next to all of the pictures of the publicly-signed starters, rotation pieces and prospects sit two young Knicks, Mohamed Diawara and Kevin McCullar Jr., which may be New York's way of soft-launching the fringe signees.
Mohamed Diawara and Kevin McCullar Jr. are featured with the Knicks’ main roster on promotional imagery for the 25-26 season
— The Strickland (@TheStrickland) August 14, 2025
Both are not officially signed, but are increasingly likely to land spots on the 15-man roster pic.twitter.com/w8uSf8Wks3
They, alongside Tyler Kolek and Pacôme Dadiet, make up the Knicks' young core. None of them can quite hang with the level of play and expectations hung on the surprisingly-deep rotation, a mixture of last year's starters and incoming role players, but they'll line the bench and take minutes when they can during the long season.
Diawara showed out at NBA Summer League, looking like arguably the best all-around talent of the bunch despite only being the 51st pick in the most recent draft. He, like the older McCullar, who only got to appear in four games last year in an injury-riddled rookie season, seemed like two of the better bets to lock up the team's remaining minimum contracts, and look to have surged ahead of other prospects in this early marketing.
The same design is purposely leaving the door open for whoever the Knicks plan on handing their final veteran minimum's contract to, with several role players still under consideration as the final member of New York's regular rotation.
Landry Shamet has maintained as a popular name for the Knicks to bring back after a positive one-and-done experience with the team, while Ben Simmons will continue dominating free agency headlines as the former star continues mulling over his future. For now, the Knicks' social media team simply put a picture of new head coach Mike Brown alongside the 14 players.
No official announcement has been made pertaining to which free agent veteran will pick up that available deal, let alone which prospects New York is ready to commit to, but these indicators may be steps in the direction of several major reports.
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