Trey Burke will be the Knicks‘ starting point guard to open the season, but Frank Ntilikina also earned a job in the starting five, tweets Ian Begley of ESPN.com. Head coach David Fizdale, who indicated in camp that starting jobs would be based on merit, rewarded Ntilikina for his strong fall, and hopes the decision to bring Kevin Knox off the bench will motivate the rookie (Twitter link via Begley).
Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:
- DeMarre Carroll will undergo a surgical procedure on his injured ankle, Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson told reporters today (Twitter link via Bryan Fonseca of NetsDaily). Atkinson downplayed the seriousness of that procedure, but didn’t offer a timetable for Carroll’s return (Twitter link via Brian Lewis of The New York Post).
- The Bulls joined the ever-growing list of NBA teams that wear a sponsored advertisement on their jerseys, announcing on Tuesday that they’ve partnered with eyewear company Zenni Optical, as Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times details. The Bulls and Zenni Optical reached an agreement on a five-year partnership, which will involve various market elements in addition to the new ad patch on Chicago’s uniforms.
- A pair of Cavaliers trade exceptions expired when they went unused on Monday. The exceptions were modest — one created by trading Richard Jefferson last October was worth $2.5MM, while the other, created by trading Kay Felder, was worth approximately $1.3MM.
- Although Dwight Howard‘s status for opening night remains unclear, the new Wizards center practiced in full on Monday for the first time, per Candace Buckner of The Washington Post (Twitter link).
Like what Fiz is doing so far, good move putting Frank at the 2 because that’s what he’ll be best suited to play in his career. His court vision is lacking, he should certainly model his game after Joe Dumars. Become an off the ball threat like Dumars and a premier 3 point shooter.
I like the Knicks roster, Burke could be a long term option at point guard and I think he’ll prove himself this coming season and average close to 18 ppg with 7-8 apg.
Ntilikinia cannot shoot the ball that well. Burke will average more like 12 and 4/5
True but Titty-Links (as I called him on draft night…what can I say I was drunk.. I’m a Knicks fan watching the draft, so hopefully you understand) is very young so developing a three point shot isn’t impossible but I do agree with your Burke averages.. probably will be around that barring any unforeseen changes.
If Burke is starting on the merits, then he must have been great in practice. THJ’s merits must be his bloated contract. Guess it’s all relative.