A rash of backcourt injuries have allowed 6’5″ combo guard Frank Ntilikina to become the primary option at backup point guard for the Knicks, writes Marc Berman of the New York Post.
Rookie Immanuel Quickley bruised his hip in the Knicks’ season opener, Dennis Smith Jr. will be missing all of the club’s current four-game road trip due to a bruised quadriceps muscle, and veteran off-guard Austin Rivers has yet to suit up for New York as he deals with a pulled groin.
Ntilikina has been striving to improve his jump shooting during this young season. “Working [on it] is the key,” he said. “The answer to probably everything in this game is probably work and just treat it with confidence.”
There’s more out of the Empire State:
- With guard Spencer Dinwiddie likely out for the season due to a partially torn ACL, some league executives weighed in on whether or not he will pick up his $12.3MM player option with the Nets for the 2021/22 NBA season, per Michael Scotto of HoopsHype. Dinwiddie released a statement on his Instagram page, expressing his hope to beat the odds as he works to recover from this latest knee issue.
- Two-way Nets guard Chris Chiozza is currently the biggest rotational beneficiary of Dinwiddie’s absence, according to Mollie Walker of the New York Post. “You never want to see your teammate get hurt and praying for Spencer, we’re here for him, hopefully he makes a speedy return,” Chiozza said. “He’s a big part of this team. While he’s out, we take it, everybody takes it, to do a little bit more than we’ve been doing, collectively.”
- After battling health issues for much of his 2019/20 season with the Knicks, veteran swingman Reggie Bullock has managed to contribute on both sides of the court to the injury-depleted club this year, according to Steve Popper of Newsday. “Well, his defense has been terrific,” head coach Tom Thibodeau said. “So just watching him move on the court he’s obviously not laboring like he did last year. I think health is the big thing and he’s been a good pro wherever he’s been.” Bullock just poured in 17 points in almost 41 minutes to help the Knicks beat the Cavaliers tonight, 95-86. He connected on five of his nine three-point attempts.
Just like last year… common sense and all logic known to man… says the Knicks should be salary dump facilitators.. They failed last year, will they fail this year?
45M in expiring contracts. Dumping ground for Blake Griffin, Kevin Love, John Wall, James Harden (not them getting him), Bledsoe, Horford, Barnes, Westbrook.
If you’re a Knicks fan, you have 2 goals – 1) get a 1st or more for your expiring deals and 2) actually develop your young players – Toppin, RJ, Mitchell, Knox, Quickley, Spellman. Sorry 3 goals – STOP PLAYING NTILIKINA. Look at a trash bin look at Ntilikina, can’t tell the difference.
Knicks need to dump Ntilikina. He’s just a reminder that they should of taken Mitchell
They wouldn’t have taken Mitchell,they would have just taken Dennis Smith one pick earlier.
None of the players you have mentionned are going to be way better than Franck in my opinion …
Frank gotta go
ntilikina, isn’t any better than he was last year ?
I mean, he honestly couldn’t possibly be any worse than he was last season…Soo, with that said, I’m sure he has gotten somewhat better!?!…Maybe!? lol
At the very least, he should play a role similar to that of Kris Dunn. An excellent perimeter defender, and a guard that can slash to the rim or occasionally drive and finish at the rim getting to the fuul line…That’s basically the best Thibs and the Knicks can hope to get out of Franky Ntilikina
you’re saying this like you don’t have confidence in him. ;)
i think you could be right. ha ha
it seems he doesn’t really assist,rebound or score.
but i do believe he’s putting in the work as he puts it. the results just may never show…
He’s saying that like he just guessing.
Brooklyn ought to try and get one of the Knicks 47 backup PGs to replace Dinwiddie. Perhaps Ntikilina or DSJ would thrive in a new setting . All you have to do is see where Dinwiddie was before they got him. And it definitely wouldn’t cost more than a 2nd rounder or 2 to acquire.
Maybe he was misevaluated before. He is unusual.
I have no doubt he was misevaluated. Ntikilina and DSJ were as well, but they could still prove to be competent pro players if they get out of NY. The bridges are burned there, but if they got a fresh start somewhere where they are not expected to be franchise saviors, they might have a chance.
Predictably, Bullock is on his way to becoming a significant Knick trade asset with his current deal. An acquiring team doesn’t even need much in the way of matching deals or TPEs to absorb him, and he can be an immediate rotation piece for almost any contender. Unlike Burks, his contract carries EBRs as well.
dennis smith and nttlinka are both big busts