September 26: Ntilikina has officially signed a two-year contract with Olympiacos, according to a press release from the team.
Reporting this week had indicated that talks between Olympiacos and Partizan hit a snag due to the Serbian club’s buyout requests. However, according to a Sport24 report (hat tip to Sportando), after initially asking for €500K and then reducing that figure to €300K, Partizan settled for an even smaller buyout amount, paving the way for the two teams to complete a deal.
September 22: Former NBA guard Frank Ntilikina appears to be headed to Olympiacos, sources tell Aris Barkas of Eurohoops (Twitter link). Barkas hears that “only details remain” in working out a deal between the Greek club and Ntilikina’s current team, Partizan Belgrade.
Earlier this month, Ntilikina agreed to an extension with Partizan through 2027. The team has been in Australia to participate in a tournament, so the arrangement sending Ntilikina to Olympiacos could be finalized soon.
Olympiacos is in need of backcourt help after former Texas Tech guard Keenan Evans suffered an injury, according to Mihalis Stefanou of Eurohoops. Ex-NBA players Evan Fournier and Saben Lee are among the team’s other guard options.
Ntilikina, a 27-year-old combo guard, was considered an elite prospect in France when the Knicks selected him with the eighth pick in the 2017 draft. He spent four years in New York before signing with Dallas in 2021, and finished out his stay in the NBA by appearing in five games with Charlotte during the 2023/24 season.
Ntilikina returned to Europe last summer, signing with Partizan, which captured the ABA League title. He averaged 7.0 points, 2.0 assists and 1.7 rebounds in 21 games while shooting 45.8% from the field and 37.7% from three-point range.
Made serious bank over the years…
Frank is 27 yrs old….. no reason why he can’t have a career in Euro ball. Wow thought he was over 30 by now. Talk about failing a draft pick. Knicks in fighting and eventual firing of Phil Jackson. Made sure Frank would never play for Knicks. Not a lottery pick. But could have been a rotation guy. Good to see him still wanting to play.
The Knicks definitely had some draft misses like Frank and Knox. I still wish OB1 and Grimes were still in New York. Those two on the bench would be amazing. I understand completely why they had to go but unfortunately got nothing of value back for them.
Grimes yes obi no. Obie is nothing but a glorified role player who can come in for 8-10 minutes. He has spot games. He he reminds me of a bigger cam payan. And most likely will be out of the league by 30. He’s got to learn how to shoot the ball better. You can’t just be athletic and think you’re going to last in the NBA.
I agree AL. This new NBA is going to make players understand that you’re not guaranteed to stick around in the NBA just because you are a first round pick. You got to work on your craft. Some of these guys got to stay in school and pick the right school so that they can develop their game. We are finally at a place where there is more talent than spots which is good and so players are going to actually have to be good and not just drafted and signed off of potential for 5-6 years
He hasn’t retired yet? Has he even watched video of himself?
I know what you mean padam. NBA teams didn’t need him so we haven’t seen him for a while. But, apparently there are professional basketball leagues overseas, who knew! Apparently there is a continent called Europe that has teams that will pay players that aren’t deemed good enough for the NBA! Those teams must be run by people who don’t understand how bad those players really are, they should listen to you and just let those terrible players retire, instead of wasting their money on giving these guys like Ntilikina a contract. But it’s not all bad over there, apparently that’s where Doncic, Jokic, Giannis and others started out! I guess all us basketball experts learned something new today!
The least heliocentric NBA fans, Knicks fans believed Frank would take them to the promised land. Ah, Frank, we barely knew ye.
“The Mills-Perry era (2017–2020)
Persistent front-office friction: The regime led by Steve Mills and Scott Perry inherited Ntilikina and did not have a consensus on his value. A former executive noted that the front office contained people from different regimes, which “causes some friction”. This internal schism, combined with Ntilikina’s own injuries and offensive struggles, contributed to his stalled development.”
Frank got caught up in a fight that wasn’t his making. The new regime didn’t care about Frank. Cause they wanted to make Phil Jackson look bad. Just a Dolan mess really. Frank got a early taste of business in NBA. And didn’t develop his game like he should have. Just anotger pick who gets lost in the numbers game.