Frank's Out (for good?)
Knicks will end the preseason tonight
Morning Knick fans. Lots of news to catch up on.
The Knicks are gearing up for their final preseason game tonight against the New Orleans Pelicans, who will be without Zion Williamson (sore knee / fear of Mitch). Of course, he’s not the only one who will be missing the game.
According to head coach David Fizdale, Frank Ntilikina will not play. His reasoning is simple: he wants to give all three of his point guard equal time this preseason, and Ntilikina has already played in three games, whereas Elfrid Payton has seen only two and Dennis Smith Jr. one.
On its face, this is sensical and fair, but we know Fiz is a salesman (unlike many, I actually admire this trait). When it’s convenient, “I’m not going to put Frank in a box. I’m going to let him tell me who he is.” When it’s not convenient, he’s a point guard.
That this is coming on the heals of a game where Fizdale said Frank would play “significant” minutes (he ended up getting 21 thanks to some early foul woes) and in which there was a Pistons scout in the building is not insignificant to me. We’ve see trades happen on the eve of the season every year. Last year on October 15, Jodie Meeks was dealt to the Bucks and the Clippers and Pels swapped Alexis Ajinca for Wes Johnson. The year prior, it was Richard Jefferson and Kay Felder going to Atlanta. In 2016, the Bulls snagged MCW for Tony Snell.
Is a Frank trade in the cards? I sure as hell hope not, but if they’ve already decided he’s not in their long term plans, I could see the team’s brass thinking “let’s deal him before his option date so he’ll have more value than simply as an expiring contract,” with the notion that if he wasn’t dealt, they wouldn’t pick up his fourth year salary.
This, of course, presupposes that his value will only decrease, which, should he be glued to the bench, might be true. These are all roads I’d rather not think about going down, let alone actually go down, but they can’t be ruled out as possibilities.
This is all to say that we maybe shouldn’t view this as business as usual, even though I very much hope it is. The season starts in five days. If you gave me even odds that Frank would be on the opening night roster, I’m probably betting on it…but I wouldn’t feel great about it.
In other news…
Allonzo Trier went to social media yesterday with something that could be interpreted as displeasure over sitting out the last game (coincidentally, Fizdale noted yesterday that Trier would see time with the second unit tonight). He then apparently clarified that this was not what was meant by the post, so your guess is as good as mine. Regardless, here’s a novel idea: stay off social media.
After waiving Amir Hinton (who can still be re-signed to their G-League team), the Knicks signed Zak Irvin to their final 2-way contract, which once again gives them 20 contracts for training camp, or the maximum allowed. Irvin, a 6’6″ shooting guard who just turned 25, spent the last two years in Westchester after graduating from Michigan. He was also with the Knicks during Summer League in Vegas.
Buddy Hield was insulted by the Kings most recent contract extension offer, leading some Knick fans to wonder whether the team should make a play for the sweet shooting guard. I wrote about it here, but in short, signing him to a massive overpay is one thing; giving up assets for the right to do so is another.
The annual GM survey came out yesterday and – are you sitting down? You should sit down for this one – the Knicks got no love.
Bradley Beal signed an extension that will keep him in Washington until at least 2022, barring a trade. The trade market for stars seems officially barren at the moment, which of course means a star will demand a trade by Thanksgiving.
Lastly, and perhaps most importantly given the summer this organization just had, RJ Barrett expressed yesterday that it would be an honor to spend his career with the Knicks. Statements like these from players in 2019 need to be taken with a Costco-sized tub of salt, but still…it’s nice to hear. Now let’s not fuck it up, shall we?