10:30am: The Grizzlies have also inquired on Ntilikina, according to Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News (Twitter link).
The Grizzlies, of course, have Mike Conley at the point, so they’d likely envision Ntilikina in a different role than a team like the Suns or Magic would.
9:40am: The Suns are among the teams to have reached out to the Knicks to express interest in second-year guard Frank Ntilikina, reports Ian Begley of ESPN.com (via Twitter). We heard earlier this week that the Magic have also shown some interest in Ntilikina.
According to Begley, when the Suns inquired on Ntilikina earlier in the year, the Knicks said they weren’t open to moving the 20-year-old. It’s not clear if the club has wavered on that stance at all a month and a half into the regular season, with Ntilikina playing a somewhat reduced role as of late — he has averaged just 14.1 minutes per game in New York’s last four contests, compared to 25.0 MPG in the club’s first 19 games.
Like Orlando, Phoenix has a handful promising core building blocks on its roster, but hasn’t settled on a long-term answer at point guard. It’s not clear if Ntilikina, who has struggled as an offensive player since being drafted eighth overall in 2017, could be that answer.
However, according to Begley, some members of the Suns’ organization are intrigued by the idea of pairing Ntilikina and Devin Booker in their backcourt. It would be an interesting combination, given Booker’s elite scoring ability and Ntilikina’s defensive prowess.
[RELATED: Suns among teams with interest in Markelle Fultz]
Still, as I noted when we discussed the Magic’s interest on Thursday, there are no indications at this point that Ntilikina is on the trade block in New York, though it’s possible that will change by February’s deadline. Fellow point guards Trey Burke and Emmanuel Mudiay will be free agents in 2019, so the Knicks will have to make some decisions this season on which of those three players – if any – they intend to prioritize over the long term.
This was a dumb pick
At this point we’ve had Suns interested in Fultz, and Suns interested in Ntilikinia. Can we have a post tomorrow saying the Suns are interested in every PG in the NBA
I’m pretty sure they’re still interested in Butler too!
Sure. Right after they run articles on the sun coming up, death and taxes.
So funny considering that Knicks fans tried defend and justify this draft pick when at least 3 guys were expected to be picked over him, that turned out to be better as expected. Facts are, the Knicks messed that up the second they knew they were firing Phil Jackson, but allowed him to handle their draft. Incompetence at its finest!
I trade him to the suns, but they have to take Lee also
Only in our dreams to they take both Frank and Lee , they don’t need another older guy they already did that w Ariza …
yea u right about that one
GET RID OF HIM, and like others suggested attach a contract to it. say hardaway or lee.
Knick fans need to accept that they will not win with C+ rated players leading the way. Better to go the Philly route or old Miami route than the knick way. Frank has shown nothing so take advantage of it now before he worth nothing too….
how about trade frank to bulls for cam payne….??? i love to see payne gone