{"id":375683,"date":"2026-10-17T17:02:10","date_gmt":"2026-10-17T17:02:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/375683\/"},"modified":"2026-10-17T17:02:10","modified_gmt":"2026-10-17T17:02:10","slug":"new-york-notes-drummond-mcbride-diawara-nets-development","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/375683\/","title":{"rendered":"New York Notes: Drummond, McBride, Diawara, Nets&#8217; Development"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Knicks center <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/t\/townska01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=www.hoopsrumors.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-10-17_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Karl-Anthony Towns<\/a> <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hoopsrumors.com\/2026\/10\/towns-very-disappointed-by-knicks-pausing-extension-talks.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">may be unhappy<\/a> about not getting an extension during training camp but he\u2019s thrilled with his new backup. Towns has plenty of nice things to say about veteran big man <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/drumman01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=www.hoopsrumors.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-10-17_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Andre Drummond<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s amazing, he\u2019s amazing,\u201d Towns said, per <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nydailynews.com\/2026\/10\/16\/knicks-karl-anthony-towns-andre-drummond-mike-brown-preseason\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Kristian Winfield of the New York Daily News<\/a>. \u201cIn my opinion, one of the best rebounders of our generation, and to be able to have him on our team, and be able to expand on what he could do that people haven\u2019t been able to see. It\u2019s a testament to his trust in us, and a testament to the coaching staff, seeing what he could be.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Drummond <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hoopsrumors.com\/2026\/07\/andre-drummond-signing-one-year-deal-with-knicks.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">signed<\/a> a one-year, minimum-salary deal with New York this offseason after a stint with Philadelphia.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s more on the New York clubs:<\/p>\n<p>While examining the biggest questions surrounding the Knicks this season, the <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/10\/17\/sports\/three-bold-predictions-for-the-knicks-2026-27-nba-season\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">New York Post\u2019s Stefan Bondy<\/a> predicts that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/m\/mcbrimi01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=www.hoopsrumors.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-10-17_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Miles McBride<\/a> will be traded at some point before February\u2019s deadline. Bondy notes there\u2019s been no traction on his extension negotiations, increasing the possibility his expiring contract will be moved.<br \/>\nThe Knicks invested in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/diawamo01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=www.hoopsrumors.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-10-17_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Mohamed Diawara<\/a> this offseason on a four-year deal, including two fully guaranteed years. Now, they want to see the second-year forward show he was worth the commitment, <a target=\"_blank\" style=\"background-color: #ffffff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nydailynews.com\/2026\/10\/16\/knicks-mohamed-diawara-step-forward\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Peter Sblendorio of the New York Daily News<\/a> writes. \u201cHe\u2019s one of those players that needs to take a step forward,\u201d coach Mike Brown said, adding that \u201ceverything should go up, especially his rebounding.\u201d However, Diawara may have to wait for opportunities with veteran options ahead of him in the rotation.<br \/>\nHow much further do the Nets have to go to move from rebuild mode to a playoff contender? That\u2019s the biggest question looming over the franchise this season, <a target=\"_blank\" style=\"background-color: #ffffff;\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/10\/17\/sports\/the-nets-2026-27-is-filled-with-important-questions\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Brian Lewis of the New York Post<\/a> opines. It largely depends on how quickly consecutive lottery picks <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/demineg01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=www.hoopsrumors.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-10-17_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Egor D\u00ebmin<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/brownmi02.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=www.hoopsrumors.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-10-17_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Mikel Brown Jr.<\/a> develop in the backcourt, along with the rest of their recent draftees. Another important element is how much <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/p\/portemi01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=www.hoopsrumors.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-10-17_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Michael Porter Jr.<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/r\/randlju01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=www.hoopsrumors.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-10-17_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Julius Randle<\/a> can raise the Nets\u2019 floor before either or both are traded. In a <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/10\/17\/sports\/three-bold-predictions-for-the-nets-2026-2027-nba-season-one-star-will-be-dealt-away\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">separate preview article<\/a>, Lewis predicts at least one of Porter or Randle will be dealt before the February deadline, with MPJ the more likely to be sent elsewhere.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns may be unhappy about not getting an extension during training camp but he\u2019s thrilled&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":375684,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[30248,17661,1555,4600,4779,41207,9,11,10],"class_list":["post-375683","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-andre-drummond","tag-julius-randle","tag-karl-anthony-towns","tag-michael-porter-jr","tag-miles-mcbride","tag-mohamed-diawara","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/375683","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=375683"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/375683\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/375684"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=375683"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=375683"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=375683"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}