In the last days of his tenure as Knicks’ president Phil Jackson oversaw the 2017 NBA Draft, plucking a very young, very raw point guard from overseas, Frank Ntilikina. And 88 games into his career, Ntilikina got his first chance to start at the position that he was drafted to play.
The rookie season was a lost one for Ntilikina, who was 18 years old when he was drafted. Banged up from the EuroLeague championships, he sat out summer league and then missed much of preseason and the first games of the regular season. By the time he was healthy he was used sparingly by Jeff Hornacek, a coach needing wins more than working with an eye toward the future.