New York Knicks: It’s officially time to be concerned about Frank Ntilikina

Frank Ntilikina’s tumultuous start to the 2018-19 season raises questions about his future with the New York Knicks

Frank Ntilikina is 20. His best days have not passed him, nor have they even arrived. But it’s officially time to question whether the guard will pan out to be a focal point of the New York Knicks‘ future.

The Knicks went into the 2018-19 season as the youngest team in the NBA and in clear rebuild mode. Their best player (Kristaps Porzingis) was sidelined, they had a handful of young players, and a new head coach in David Fizdale. When you thought of their young core, Porzingis (when healthy), Tim Hardaway Jr., rookies Kevin Knox and Mitchell Robinson, and Ntilikina came to mind. But nearly two months into the season, Ntilikina has lost his spot in the Knicks rotation and is being outshined by everyone around him.

Going into Saturday night, Ntilikina was averaging just 5.9 points, 2.7 assists, and 1.9 rebounds per game on 33.3 percent shooting from the field and 25.7 percent shooting from beyond the arc in 23.1 minutes a night.

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To put that into perspective, Ntilikina averaged 5.9 points, 3.2 assists, and 2.3 rebounds per game on 36.4 percent shooting from the field and 31.8 percent shooting from beyond the arc in 21.9 minutes a night last season.

Defensively, it has been a different story for the second-year guard. He’s continued to be a lockdown on-ball defender and use his near-seven foot wingspan to agonize ball-handlers. With that said, you can’t be a starting point guard in today’s NBA and be unable to contribute on the offensive end.

Sure, Ntilkina has seen the floor well and is not a selfish player, but there are times when he’s too selfless, and perhaps it sparks from an inability to be a scoring threat. He’s not an outside shooting threat, struggles to create his own shot, and contributes in spurts on that end of the floor.

Look at the other young players on the Knicks. Hardaway has established himself as an offensive focal point and shown that his success last season was no fluke. While his minutes and production have been inconsistent, Knox has been more productive on the offensive end over the last two weeks, playing with aggression.

Robinson has struggled to stay out of foul trouble, but been money in the paint and a shot-blocking threat. Second-year wing Damyean Dotson went into Saturday night averaging 11.4 points per game and has been playing at a high level defensively. Undrafted rookie Allonzo Trier has been the Knicks’ most encouraging development, coming off the bench and serving as a go-to scoring option, as he was averaging 11.1 points per game going into Saturday night.

Point guard Emmanuel Mudiay has overtaken the starting point guard gig and is making a legitimate case to stay in the role for the rest of the season and stick past the 2018-19 NBA year. Big man Noah Vonleh is averaging career-highs in points and rebounds (8.6, eight) per game.

Meanwhile, Ntilikina has, if anything, shown signs of regression and been buried on Fizdale’s bench. He hasn’t played in three of the Knicks’ last four games even with veteran point guard Trey Burke missing time with a knee injury. So, what does that say about Fizdale and the Knicks’ perception of Ntilikina? Do they think he’s not capable of being a starting point guard in the NBA? Do they think benching Ntilikina will be best for his future? Is Fizdale simply shaking up the rotation?

A nagging question has been whether the Knicks will trade Ntilikina if he continues to struggle, but the problem with them taking such action is the return they’d get. Regardless of the reasoning for their handling of Ntilikina’s minutes, the way the Knicks are going about the situation is doing them no favors.

It’s not to say that teams wouldn’t be interested in trading for Ntilikina, but how does benching a player you’d be shopping do yourself any favors when it comes to boosting his trade value? It’s essentially the Knicks saying he’s not good enough to start, or play on a consistent basis.

Realistically, the Knicks cannot expect to get back a first-round pick from a team unlikely to make the playoffs for Ntilikina. They’d be more likely to get back another struggling young player and a second-round pick, or two seconds. The only way they would be able to get a first-round pick is if it’s from a playoff team who’s in a situation where draft picks are not the franchise’s priority.

If the Knicks aren’t going to get a trade package that is fair for a former top-10 pick, then trading Ntilikina doesn’t make sense. He was selected with the No. 8 overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft, and when a player is taken that high, the expectation is that he’ll grow into a franchise player, or starting fixture. At this stage of his career, it’s difficult to definitively say Ntilikina will grow into such a player.

At some point, the training wheels have to come off and the reality of the situation has to be addressed. Right now, Ntilikina has shown little to no improvements from last season in a year where he should be able to prosper. He began the year starting and is now struggling to buy playing time. The bulk of the Knicks’ youth is receiving consistent playing time and making a good showing for themselves; Ntilikina is the exception. He’s giving the Knicks every reason in the world to pursue a free agent point guard, or two, next summer.

Frank Ntilikina has time to right the ship, but the New York Knicks can’t wait around forever for him to become a franchise, or reliable starting point guard.