Target France! Knicks internationalization strategy!

In the global basketball landscape, France has gradually risen to become a highly competitive talent reserve library. As a basketball powerhouse with a top youth training system, a top European league development platform and a huge international influence, the talent torrent that has gradually emerged in recent years has begun to attract more and more NBA teams to pay attention.

Among them, the most important thing is that the New York Knicks are building their French reserve talent pool through a systematic scouting layout. For the Knicks, this is not only a tactical layout, but also an exploration of cultural brands and long-term combat power in the future. Through the league's increasingly strict salary structure restrictions, select some international rookies with high talent potential, and give enough growth time to achieve the team's long-term strategic layout goals.

First of all, at the draft level, the Knicks selected the French young wing Pacom Dadier with the 25th overall pick in the 2024 draft. This genius born on July 27, 2005, is 203 tall, has great potential on both offense and defense, and has mature athletic ability and shooting foundation. He is a rookie with extremely high plasticity in the Knicks.

Then in the 2025 draft, the Knicks selected another French striker, Mohamed Diavala, with the 51st pick in the second round. Although the 20-year-old striker from the Paris League, averaging only 5.8 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game, the Tower has excellent arm span and excellent defense, which greatly demonstrates the potential value of the future.

, and in order to give these two French newcomers a suitable growth environment, the Knicks signed French men's basketball captain Abussele in the summer of 2025. Yabuselle played for the Philadelphia 76ers last season, playing 70 games, averaging 11 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game, shooting percentage of 50%, and three-point shooting percentage of 38%. Both inside and outside shooting have certain value, and is a high-quality space forward supplement.

Abusele not only provides instant combat power, but also becomes the mentor for the above-mentioned newcomers. He also showed how to successfully transition from the European League to the NBA, which is also the best case for French players to successfully transform into the NBA.

Looking back at the 2025 draft, French rookies hit a record high, with a total of six French rookies entering the NBA, including Nolan Traore and Joan Bellinger. In addition, the previous Saar, Vinbanyama, Rissache and others, it is enough to prove that the quality of French talent resources has reached the top level in Europe.

Compared with recruiting combat-powered stars, the Knicks valued more the frontcourt supplement with stable defense, excellent athletic ability and strong plasticity. The above-mentioned Dadiye and Diavala have offensive and defensive potential, while Yabussele is a strategic extension role and is the best training sample.

From a long-term perspective, although this draft strategy is not effective at the moment, it fully takes into account the rotation needs of NBA teams and is basically in line with the current league's development model for rookies.

Dadier comes from Aubagne, and has played for Saint-Charles Charenton, INSEP, Paris Basketball youth training system. He has gone to Ratiopharm Ulm, Germany. He played for the Bundesliga and Euro Cup in the 2022–23 season. He has first gained practical experience before entering the draft market.

As the 25th pick in the 2024 draft, he is one of the few rookies who have entered the first round of the NBA directly from the European youth player stage. As a young player who has not yet been trained, he still needs to overcome challenges in physical confrontation and tactical understanding at this stage, but he is optimistic about the extremely high growth limit and is suitable for long-term development.

As for Mohamed Diavala, before the draft, the Knicks traded with the Clippers first, down from 50 to 51 pick, which is enough to show the Knicks' attention to the French rookie. Based on his resume, Diavala performed averagely in the French league, but thanks to her outstanding physical talent and Xia Lian's outstanding performance, she should still have the opportunity to join the team rotation in the future.

From the team's perspective, the Knicks' bet on the French basketball world is not only about combat power, but also about gaining great international attention and commercial market opportunities. For the metropolis of New York, building a talented French team can not only attract European media and business attention, but also enhance the team's international image.

For this group of young players, New York is both an attractive stage and a challenge. As long as you perform well, it will naturally become the future focus of the French basketball world. Before these young players, Abussele happened to be a key link.

It is obvious that the Knicks' French plan is not a coincidence of whim, but a patient and perfect global layout. From selecting young newcomers to signing veteran mentors who are still famous, the Knicks are creating a complete French cultivation channel, allowing players of different ages and levels of experience to pull and support each other, and ultimately form a sustainable development plan.

The core of this blueprint is to integrate three types of French players into a team, namely combat power, cultivation, and long-term. The representative of the combat power type is Yabuselle. His existence is not only the output of firepower on the field, but also the role of cultural tactics. For later young European players, Abuselle was the key to helping them adapt to the rhythm and lifestyle of the United States. The development player is Dadiye. As a newcomer, he has a complete technical foundation and high-level offensive and external capabilities. He can become a multi-functional forward of the team just by polishing the details in the future. As for long-term players, they are naturally Diavala. He first accumulates game experience in international competitions, and waits until he matures before entering the NBA draft. This model is at least more effective than developing it after directly participating in the election.. Under various types of configurations, the Knicks can operate simultaneously on different timelines. Yabuselle is the instant combat power that can help the team achieve record, Dadiye is the high-quality potential to enter the golden period within two or three years, and Diyavara is the standard for value-added players in the future. From a long-term perspective, the three-point parallel route not only prevents the team from falling into a long-term reconstruction cycle after the combat power is exhausted, but also maintains a safe route that is stable and rising.

In addition, behind this, the Knicks also sees the added value of the international market. As the central point of global media culture, New York itself is the focus of international fans. If the European market can be discovered through French players, it will not only increase the team's exposure and commercial profits, but also attract more French and European rookies to join. This cultural brand effect is the greatest value that affects the team's decision-making.

If this system can be run maturely, we may see that the Knicks have multiple French players at the same time, and they will complement each other in different positions and roles to form the most distinctive international team in the league.