Atlantic Notes: Knicks, Horford, Nets Picks

It’s been established that once regular season games resume, the Knicks plan on using recently acquired Emmanuel Mudiay, rookie Frank Ntilikina, and Trey Burke more extensively. Former NBA point and guard and TNT analyst Kenny Smith believes the Knicks can play both Ntilikina and Mudiay at the same time and let them compete for playing time, Marc Berman of the New York Post writes.

“I think they feel Mudiay or Frank can move over and play together,” Smith said. “Who’s going to be the starter? You got to fight for that. At times, because of the size of both of them physically [both 6-foot-5], they can play together. When you have a guy like [Kristaps] Porzingis, who is a scorer, and they can facilitate for him to score the basketball, and [Enes] Kanter can score the basketball, those two [point guards] can actually play together.”

With the Knicks planning of using the aforementioned trio of guards, veteran Jarrett Jack is expected to lose playing time and may even be a buyout candidate. The organization had made it clear that Ntilikina is being groomed to be the future point guard, but the team is reluctant to make him the full-time starter. Mudiay, a former lottery pick, gives the Knicks both another option and competition.

Check out other Atlantic Division notes:

  • Al Horford made his third All-Star team, and first with the Celtics, in 2018 and he did so without the usual eye-popping statistics of an All-Star, Chris Mannix of The Vertical writes. Instead, Horford earned his spot by being a complete player who can make an impact on both sides of the ball.
  • Net Income of NetsDaily has a roundup of all the possible targets for the Nets in the upcoming draft.
View Comments (6)