Opinion: Former First Round Pick By The New York Knicks Should Sign With This Team

Frank Ntilikina was the eighth overall pick by the New York Knicks in 2017. However, at just 23 years old, he is now a free agent.

Frank Ntilikina came into the NBA out of France as 19 year old in the 2017 draft. 

The New York Knicks selected him with the eighth overall pick.

With the 8th overall pick, the @Knicks select Frank Ntilikina #NBADraft pic.twitter.com/nD02CtaDPP

— Stadium (@Stadium) June 23, 2017

Yet, after just four seasons on the Knicks he does not appear to be in their plans any longer and is now a free-agent (see Tweets below from Marc Berman of the New York Post on August 1 and Keith Smith of Spotrac on August 11). 

Frank Ntilikina, longest-tenured Knicks, going to be an unrestricted free agent. Knicks didn’t submit a qualifying offer at 5 pm deadline, taking off restricted tag. Could still re-sign him.

— Marc Berman (@NYPost_Berman) August 1, 2021

The New York Knicks have renounced the free agent rights to Frank Ntilikina.

— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) August 11, 2021

Fast-forward to September 8, and the former lottery pick still remains unsigned. 

According to BasketNews (read article here and see Tweet below), Ntilikina has interest from a team in Italy.

Would you like to see the former 8th pick of the Knicks Frank Ntilikina back in Europe? 👀 pic.twitter.com/vtETXWsYTw

— BasketNews (@BasketNews_com) September 6, 2021

BasketNews cited Gazetta Dello Sport And La Republica for getting the info on Ntilikina having interest from Virtus Bologna. 

Being this late into the off-season and not being signed shows that an NBA team could easily get him right now for cheap. 

He's just 23 years old and still has potential. 

In 2019-20 he started 26 games for the Knicks and averaged 6.3 points and 3.0 assists per game. 

Should the Indiana Pacers give him a look?

The Pacers should wholeheartedly give the four-year veteran a look in training camp. 

While he has not had any impressive NBA seasons, there is a reason he was drafted so high. 

In fact, he was even drafted in front of star players like Donovan Mitchell of the Utah Jazz and John Collins of the Atlanta Hawks. 

The pick was clearly a reach by the Knicks, but he would have easily still been selected in the lottery by a plenty of other teams. 

Getting an essentially free chance to look at 2017 lottery pick seems like a no-brainer for most teams in the NBA. 

Ntilikina not being signed this late is actually very surprising. 

Another reason to give him a look is the fact that he has the potential to be a very solid defender. 

FRANK NTILIKINA GIVES THE KNICKS MOMENTUM WITH HIS DEFENSE & 3PT SHOOTING GIVING THEM THE LEAD LATE IN THE 4TH!

THIS IS WHY THIS KID CAN PLAY. YA'LL CAN'T SAY HE AIN'T USEFUL, BRO BRINGING US BACK WITH HIS D! #Clutch pic.twitter.com/FLLWJ0pdnM

— TheBenchWarmer🏀 (@BenchWarmerPost) March 19, 2021

The Pacers were atrocious on defense last season, and that is the one thing that Ntilikina has truly proven he can do at the NBA level. 

Just four-years ago a team (and probably many other teams would have) used a top-ten draft pick on him.

Why not take a chance on him for nothing?