Knicks guard Frank Ntilikina is among the players who didn’t receive a qualifying offer in advance of Sunday’s deadline, making him an unrestricted free agent this offseason, reports Marc Berman of The New York Post (Twitter link).
The Knicks’ decision on Ntilikina doesn’t come as a surprise. Despite the years the team spent trying to develop the former No. 8 overall pick into a reliable rotation player, he wasn’t used often in 2020/21, logging just 9.8 minutes per game in 33 contests as he battled some injury issues. A qualifying offer to make him a restricted free agent would have been worth $7MM+, a figure he’s unlikely to match or exceed on the open market.
Here are updates on a few of the other players who didn’t receive QOs today:
- The Rockets didn’t issue a qualifying offer to forward D.J. Wilson, who will become an unrestricted free agent, reports Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. Wilson’s QO would’ve been worth $6.4MM.
- The Nets didn’t issue a qualifying offer to guards Mike James or Chris Chiozza, according to reports from Michael Scotto of HoopsHype and ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter links). Both players will become unrestricted free agents.
- Brandon Goodwin didn’t receive a qualifying offer from the Hawks, a league source tells Scotto (Twitter link). Goodwin averaged 4.9 PPG and 2.0 APG in 47 games (13.2 MPG) for Atlanta in 2020/21.
Good Luck Franck
Slightly sad to see Brandon Goodwin go from the Hawks but with Trae, Delon Wright, Skylar Mays & Sharife Cooper holding down the pg position he obv wasn’t needed. I wouldn’t mind us getting DJ Wilson as a reserve 5 tho. Extremely athletic, can knock down treys, very active defensively. DJ could hold down the backup 5 until Okongwu gets back in February
“Despite the years the team spent trying to develop the former No. 8 overall pick…”
Since when did the Knicks give Frank a legitimate shot at developing properly? Never. It never happened.
Sure, it’s not all on the Knicks—he didn’t exactly help his own cause—but I think he still has potential and a solid 3-and-D guy off the bench. If he signs with a a team like the Spurs or Raptors who generally do a good job at developing talent, I think it will pay dividends for player and team.
More importantly, his shooting form isn’t terrible, he’s solid from the line, and he shot better from deep this past season. No reason why he can’t get into the mid 30’s at the very least, which would get him on the floor with his elite defense.
He played 20+ minutes a game in his first three seasons and showed no signs of improvement. I don’t agree with the narrative that he never got a chance. He got plenty of playing time but unfortunately did not develop offensively. It happens.
You can argue he got enough of a chance to show something, but are you really going to argue the Knicks went about trying to develop him properly? They never made him a priority nor tried to set him up for success, pairing him with poorly-fitting players who were often ball hogs. That’s not something you do with a known project. And let’s not forget their decision to not start him out in the G-League. If the Knicks were going to do all of that, they would’ve been far better off drafting someone who wasn’t a project. Don’t think there’s really any debating that.
My point was a team with a strong track record of developing talent is going to get something out of him. Not a lot, but something. I’d bet money on that.
The knicks track record of developing talent had one name on it: Jeremy Lin
Playing in a game is not the only way to develop. Getting better in practice is another option and if he didn’t show improvement enough to warrant time how can you say he wasn’t afforded the opportunity?
Never said lack of minutes was the main issue.
Right but the Knicks see him in practice every day and decided to cut his minutes in half this year. Maybe they’re wrong, but I would place far more blame on Frank than I would on the Knicks. RJ, Robinson, IQ, Randle, etc have all ‘developed’ in the same time frame that Frank didn’t.
The Stooges couldn’t have facilitated Frank’s development if they wanted to, because they didn’t understand the concept. Mills thought it was all about providing instruction (so he hired ex-coaches as instructors to work with the G-league team). Fizdale, a “development” assistant, thought it was about the imparting of wisdom (so he wouldn’t let the players work with the instructors, or even play in the G-league). Neither understood the central role of the coaching process. How could they?
Stop drafting guys that can’t shoot in the top 10…
Accurate
Knicks should have traded Frank last season. Would think a team would have given up a 2nd rounder.
I think they tried. Not sure there was an offer when most teams probably assumed they could sign him on a minimum this summer.
Goodwin’s a tough kid …… too bad he got expendable real quick.
I didn’t think Mike James was eligible to sign another contract now, anyway. Unless something changed, he’s still under contract to CSKA Moscow. They put his contract on hiatus for the remainder of last season, allowing him to sign 10-day and “rest of season” contracts in the NBA, but there was no mention of a buyout.
Same here. Feel like BK should try and keep him if possible.
Agreed. If anything, they should try to purchase his contract from CSKA.
There were reports that they were willing to let him out of that contract if he found another NBA job. Not sure exactly where things stand now.
Ok, but I wouldn’t think you could give someone a qualifying offer who is still under contract.
James’ situation specifically was a weird one, but I assume if CSKA Moscow wanted him back, his RFA eligibility this year would’ve sort of worked like Nando De Colo’s has — the Raptors give De Colo a QO every year even though he’s playing in Europe. If the Nets gave James a QO, they would’ve had his rights if/when he came back to the NBA.
I heard, and earlier read, that CSKA doesn’t want him back, physically anyway. Contractually, they might want to keep him in the fold, IDK, until he instigates a buyout. Doesn’t change the formal process, but people may know how it’s gonna end (he’ll be permitted to play here).
You don’t watch the Knicks if you put this on Frank. A 18-20 yr old that gets jerked around by three different coaches and FO. Hasn’t a chance in NY. Wishing him the best. Time to act like a real adult Frank. Get selfish and get yours. Someone will give him a chance. He’s a good FT shooter which means he can be taught to shoot. He plays D which means he’s as good as half the league. At 23 he will find his groove somewhere. Go get it Frank.
go to philly frank, they will teach u how to shoot…
You don’t watch Frank if you don’t put most of the blame on him. The Knicks aren’t making the guy shoot 36.6% overall and 32% from 3 and they’re certainly not making him have a 2:1 assist/turnover ratio. You want to talk about him being a ‘real adult’? How about him taking responsibility for his own horrible play.
How about putting decent pieces around him that make sense?
Ntilikina might be worth a flyer from the Bulls, they need some D. However he is very similar to Kris Dunn who didn’t fare well.
Sad sad day for Knicks fans who have been proclaiming this guy the 2nd coming since he was drafted.
Would love to see Frank on the Raptors next season. He’s the type of defense first players we like to target. We can work on and develop his offense. Make it happen, Masai!!
Heat should be in on Ntilikina, among others…Portland, GS, Dallas, Washington, maybe Chicago, Cleveland, Toronto could all make some kind of sense. I’d add Atlanta, but they grabbed Delon Wright
Thought he should have got more opportunity with the Knicks, at least last year