Frank Ntilikina’s wasted season is officially over.
The Frenchman was ruled out for the remaining six games Friday because of his troublesome groin injury, as coach David Fizdale continued to endorse Ntilikina as a part of New York’s future — if only logistically.
“He’s on the roster, isn’t he?” Fizdale said.
When pressed further, Fizdale cited Ntilikina’s versatility as his long-term fit in New York. We’ll see how long this tenuous partnership lasts. Ntilikina spent most of his sophomore season either injured, ineffective or buried on the bench. During what will probably devolve into the worst season in franchise history, Ntilikina racked up four DNP-CD’s in December — including on Christmas after his mother flew in for the game. The Knicks are expected to shop Ntilikina this summer and it’s hardly a ringing endorsement when the owner of the team — James Dolan — let’s out an audible sigh when asked by ESPN Radio why he didn’t fire Phil Jackson before making the draft pick.
A groin injury ends Frank Ntilikina’s season and his time with the Knicks could also be coming to an end. (Mary Altaffer/AP)
But Steve Mills can’t disown the pick, either. After usurping Jackson to elevate from GM to team president, Mills said he was 100 percent on board with taking Ntilikina eighth overall in 2017.
“I talked to our scouts a lot about Frank before the draft. I went overseas and watched Frank play,” Mills said. “So I’m very comfortable with the draft pick. I would’ve selected Frank at that point in the draft myself.”
Since then, Mills hired Scott Perry as GM — who has no allegiance to the Ntilikina pick — and acquired two other young point guards in Emmanuel Mudiay and Dennis Smith Jr.
New York is expected to make a summer run at point guard Kyrie Irving, but the Brooklyn Nets are also in the running for the enigmatic champion. In fact, some sources around the league believe Irving prefers the Nets. In an interview done recently with NBATV, David Griffin — who was the Cavs GM at the same time Irving played for Cleveland — suggested that was the case. Coincidentally, Irving is scheduled to play in Brooklyn with the Celtics on Saturday.
