Knicks guard Frank Ntilikina against the Washington Wizards during a preseason game at Madison Square Garden on Oct. 11, 2019. Photo Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
ORLANDO — This was certainly not the way Frank Ntilikina wanted to get his opportunity, not with Dennis Smith Jr. in North Carolina with his family mourning the passing of his stepmother and Elfrid Payton sidelined with a strained right hamstring.
Still, it was an opportunity that has seemed like a mirage since Ntilikina was drafted with the No. 8 overall pick by the Knicks in the summer of 2017.
It was just days later that Phil Jackson, who oversaw the draft, was fired.