ORLANDO — Not all rookie opportunities are created equal. The young players on the Knicks know this as well as anyone. The lottery picks with star labels tend to get the minutes, the mistakes, the leeway.

The second-rounders, the late picks, the fringe rotation guys on win-now teams? They can fade into the background. They can live in the G-League. They can spend months preparing for a chance that never comes.

And then there are the rookies who never expect to see the court this early, never expect to be relied upon in real minutes, but prepare anyway — quietly, obsessively, behind the scenes — in case the head coach finally looks down the bench and says their name.

Mike Brown is saying “Mo,” and suddenly, the Knicks need Mohamed Diawara more than they planned. The 20-year-old French

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