New York Knicks: Five reasons to love Frank Ntilikina in the starting lineup

2. Two ball handlers

Among other preseason observations, Frank Ntilikina was not placed in a ball dominant position as the part-time point guard. He often worked off the ball, which will remain the case in the starting lineup, and might be a positive.

Staying off a main ball-handling role takes the pressure off Ntilikina, despite some ability to create for his teammates. There’s little reason for him to push too much as the handler of the offense, so he can settle into what he does best next to the point guard.

Ntilikina can still handle the ball when needed and it would not surprise to see him play the 1 spot. Though, he’s out there for defense and to develop the outside shot that has slowly come along.

Aside from this, having two handlers in the starting lineup allows this group to play creatively. Ntilikina or Trey Burke can bring up the ball and call the offense, and the other looks to open the floor for himself, especially the latter if he finds a similar shooting stroke from 2017-18.

There’s upside for this experiment to work when the New York Knicks will likely struggle at times to formulate points. Can they find something unique in a pairing of Ntilikina and Burke or another point guard?