New York Knicks: Five other trade candidates before 2019 deadline
1. Frank Ntilikina
The New York Knicks just moved one young talent, and while Frank Ntilikina‘s name value hardly matches Porzingis’, he was once involved in trade rumors when this team did not have 40-plus losses.
The Frenchman joined the Knicks less than two years ago as a physical talent who needed to put everything together. It was always set to take time, but after 119 games, just 35.6 percent shooting and no clear improvement from his freshman to sophomore season, his value plummeted.
To pile on, Ntilikina was arguably the loser of the Porzingis trade. Dennis Smith Jr.’s arrival likely keeps the 20-year-old out of ball-handling situations for the rest of 2018-19. It can happen in a backup role, but Emmanuel Mudiay is still around to take minutes.
Ntilikina struggled in any offensive role handed to him, and if he’s behind in the backcourt rotation, it paints a troubling outlook for his organizational standing.
Teams were interested in Ntilikina, and if Smith Jr. is the point guard of the future, it doesn’t make sense to keep both. They can play side-by-side in the backcourt, but if the Knicks don’t want to wait on the former’s development, they can seek his trade value before it plummets further.
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It’s too soon to move Ntilikina and not see how he can help with patience. With a high-pressure summer ahead, though, the Knicks might not allow themselves to wait.