It’s time for the New York Knicks to move on from Frank Ntilikina

With the eighth overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft, the New York Knicks selected Frank Ntilikina. We are two seasons in, and that is two seasons too long.

The New York Knicks took Frank Ntilikina, a point guard from Belgium who had spent the previous three seasons playing professional basketball in Europe. This pick shocked just about everyone around basketball with players such as Dennis Smith jr., Luke Kennard, Malik Monk and others still on the board.

Knicks fans, while surprised, were hoping for the best seeing one of their previous international picks, Kristaps Porzingas, had turned out pretty well. Unfortunately, however, that would not be the case with the 6’6″ 200lb point guard.

We are two seasons into the Ntilikina experiment, and that in it of itself is two seasons too long. While Ntilikina is excellent on the defensive end, he is horrible on the offensive end. In an average of 21.6 minutes per game in his two seasons combined, Ntilikina has averaged 5.9 points, 2.2 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game. That’s it.

I don’t care how good you are on the defensive end, if you are contributing about 12 points per game or less with points and assists combined, in nearly 22 minutes, you shouldn’t see the court.

At best 5.9 points and 2.2 assists per game is 12 points, at worst it’s 10. If you are selected with the eighth overall pick and putting up those kinds of numbers what is it going to take for your GM/owner to realize that it’s time to move on from this failed experiment?

I proposed this idea last week, and I got several replies saying that he’s only two years in and that the Knicks shouldn’t move on so quickly.

Two years is a very, very long time in the NBA, two years ago LeBron James was still in Cleveland, Kawhi Leonard was still in San Antonio, and Zion Williamson was still in high school. If two years isn’t enough time to judge someone off of, how long should we wait?

If the Knicks don’t do something about this now, whether it be trading him for a second-round pick, waive him, or whatever they have to do, it will only get worse. Yes, at this rate the Knicks could probably benefit from another year or two of being bad for a decent pick, but they need to do it in a fashion that doesn’t involve Ntilikina.

If the Knicks let Ntilikina play out his final two years under contract in New York, they will continue giving him minutes in hopes that he will turn into that top player.

It is time for the Knicks to realize that they wasted their pick on a one-sided player and they should at least try to get something out of him, via a trade, before it’s too late.