So is the Knicks’ point guard of the future the Knicks’ two guard of the future?
“I’m learning every day,” Frank Ntilikina said after practice Wednesday in Tarrytown. “I want to bring everything to the team. Either on the point-guard position or the 2 position. If coach wanted me to play the 5, I would have to eat, obviously.”
Yeah, the 6-foot-5, 190-pound, 19-year-old could use a little bulk if he wants to be the team’s best banger.
Otherwise, he’s fine for either backcourt spot. He was drafted with the eighth pick in June and projected to be the guy to finally stabilize the point-guard spot. The Knicks have lacked that continuity for years.
There were the expected struggles — don’t forget, he’s 19. Then, at the trade deadline, the Knicks acquired Emmanuel Mudiay, another young (21), athletic, 6-5 point guard. Coach Jeff Hornacek has been pairing the two and likes what he has seen with Ntilikina off the ball. Hornacek said the rookie has looked comfortable so far.
“We’re always looking at the defensive side when you play a different position,” said Hornacek, whose team starts a four-game trip against the Clippers on Friday. “He’s played the point, so when he moves to a new one, we’re not asking him to … come off screens and shoot 3s. We know that’s not what he can do.
“If we get the ball from side-to-side and he’s back into his pick-and-roll, that’s what he’s used to as a point guard. It’s more defensively,” Hornacek added. “He’s done a great job chasing guys over. He’s gotten hit by a couple, but he’s going to do that because he’s maybe not used to it. But I’ve been impressed how he’s been able to play off the ball and still be involved.”
Shooting hasn’t been a strength for Ntilikina. He’s at 36 percent shooting and 5.4 points per game overall. But in six games since Mudiay’s arrival, Ntilikina has shown a bump up: 42.5 percent shooting and 7.5 points per game.
“I just want to play and bring everything to the team. I’m learning and it’s a process and I’m going to be good. I’m a good basketball player and I have to be able to play every position,” Ntilikina said, noting the main difference not playing point guard is having the ball in his hands less.
“After that it’s just defensively,” he said. “It’s a different game, not as much pick-and-roll, but more like pin downs and fighting around screens, so it’s different.
“Offensively it’s like the same because we’re sharing the ball, so everybody touches the ball in the offense. Everybody should touch the ball.”
Ntilikina is a film and homework guy. He studied point guards earlier. Now he is studying shooting guards. He watches a lot of the Raptors’ DeMar DeRozan, not a bad model to pick.
The Knicks have confidence in Ntilikina at either position. Hornacek wants him to improve his strength — and not for that whole playing center thing.
“Strength is huge in this league,” Hornacek said. “You’re playing against guys … 30 years old. They’ve been lifting weights and in programs for 10 years. The stronger he gets the easier the game will be for him.”
All those concerned expect Ntilikina to get it. This season has been about adjustments. He’s a teenager in a new country. And of all cities in which to make that adjustment, he’s in New York. So far he hasn’t ordered a plate of medium-rare galoshes in a restaurant.
“It’s tough,” Turkish-bred Enes Kanter said. “I came into the league when I was 19 years old. But I went to prep school here, I went to college here. My first three and a half seasons were in Utah. He’s coming here, starting in New York. It’s tough for a 19-year-old. He’s still a kid, doing an unbelievable job handling the pressure and avoiding the outside talk. He just wants to have fun, wants to win, just wants to get better, is willing to learn. I really like him as a teammate. I want to definitely play with him more in the future.”
As a 1 or a 2.