Go ahead and pencil in Frank Ntilikina, the No. 8 overall pick in this year’s draft, as a bust.
Relax, I’m kidding. But someone on the New York Knicks better talk to him, or stop talking to him, or something. The rookie guard is already talking about how he’d welcome having free agent Derrick Rose as a mentor, per the New York Post‘s Marc Berman:
While the Knicks wait to see Rose’s market value in their attempt to sign a veteran point guard, their French lottery pick, Frank Ntilikina, would be happy to have him as a mentor.
“He’s the youngest MVP of the NBA history, I can learn from him,’’ Ntilikina said after missing his third straight summer league game with a knee bruise. “It would be good. He’s done a lot of things in his career. For sure it would be good. I’m not controlling what management is doing. I trust the management and the coaching staff to do what’s best for the team.’’
Yeah, no.
Rose can still be a valuable player in this league, and perhaps he could teach Ntilikina something about how to explode off drives. But that’s the extent of the wisdom he can impart. He was never, ever the defender New York’s 18-year-old projects to be, nor has he ever been the off-ball option the Knicks need Ntilikina to be.
If there’s an underrated downside to signing Rose to a short-term deal, it’s this: There’s a chance the French floor general picks up some bad habits. More than that, his minutes may be depressed. He cannot play alongside Rose the same way he can, say, George Hill.
The Knicks have to know this. It’s a just matter of whether they’re willing to plan around it, either by passing on Rose altogether or figuring out a way to adequately stagger the minutes of these two should they end up on the same team.
