INDIANAPOLIS — Emmanuel Mudiay labeled it twice in his first interview since joining the Knicks: "A new beginning."
After getting benched by the Nuggets and freezing out the Denver media, Mudiay hopes his stalled career will kickstart in a different uniform and in a crowded backcourt.
"I'm going to try to put that behind me," the point guard said of Denver. "I'm 21 years old."
Even without a practice, Mudiay was expected to debut Sunday off the bench against the Pacers. Coach Jeff Hornacek said the minutes will be determined by Mudiay's play and fitness, the latter of which could be a concern since he hasn't played in almost a week and regularly logged DNPs in December and January.
Mudiay, who was drafted seventh by the Nuggets in 2015, went from averaging over 30 minutes as a rookie to under 18 minutes this season. The Nuggets, meanwhile, are on pace for their most wins in five years.
"Coming in at 19 you've got so much on you," Mudiay said. "Coming out of high school I was kind of given everything, the easy route. So that was my first time kind of going through something. I think it formed me well. I didn't hold my head down. I always tried to just control what I could control and work as hard as I could."
Except Mudiay declined to discuss any of this publicly until Sunday, the day after his trade for Doug McDermott became official. Mudiay avoided the media in Denver but wants to talk in New York.
Emmanel Mudiay is a low-risk move as the Knicks hope he finally lives up to his potential.
(Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)"It was some stuff that happened," he said. "Like I said, new beginning here. I'm not expecting to do that here. Just moving on from that."
While Mudiay's acquisition makes sense in a vacuum as a low-risk move on underachieving talent, his presence further muddies their guard rotation. Jarrett Jack again started Sunday - although that's expected to change after the trade deadline - and Hornacek also needs to find time for Frank Ntilikina and Trey Burke.
The coach reiterated Sunday that he wants to play Mudiay and Ntilikina together in the backcourt.
"We'll probably have him out there with another point guard, maybe a Frank. Maybe two of these guys will end up being out there together. As you play you start to pick up things. Maybe Frank handles it in the beginning and then they can kind of alternate. We won't leave him out there on an island by himself. The stuff we went over he had a good understanding. Even if we did leave him out there, he'd be OK."
Mudiay, who is from Africa and speaks French just like Ntilikina, is high on his rookie teammate.
"He has potential to be a real great defender," Mudiay said. "Offensively, I think it's going to come as well. Like I said, being 19, coming in, and you've got to play right away, you're going to learn a lot. You're going to go through your slumps. You're going to go through your ups and downs. I think he's handling it pretty well. He's going to be fine."