Frank Ntilikina Emerging as Key Mavs Guard to Watch?
Replacing the impact of Jalen Brunson has been a storyline the Dallas Mavericks have faced this NBA offseason. Frank Ntilikina appears to be emerging as a key name to watch on the depth chart.
When speaking to DallasBasketball.com, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban highlighted Ntilikina's potential for the upcoming season when asked about replacing Brunson's impact.
"People forget we have Frank, who will be better this year," Cuban said. "We went into last season with Luka, JB, and Frank and turned our season around more than a month before the trade deadline."
Ntilikina appeared in 58 regular season games for the Mavericks in 2021-22. He averaged 4.1 points, 1.4 rebounds, and 1.2 assists in 11.8 minutes per game. He shot 39.9 percent from the floor and 34.2 percent on 3-pointers.
Primarily during the Western Conference Semifinals series against the Phoenix Suns, Ntilikina's on-ball defense proved to be a real asset for the Mavericks. He offered another lengthy disruptive option to throw onto the Suns' top threats.
Ntilikina was also brought up by Cuban when discussing particular players that he feels are being underrated or not talked about enough heading into the season.
“I think Christian (Wood) and Frank (Ntilikina) both. In particular, what Frank did defensively (in the postseason) while being sick and banged up was insane,” Cuban said.
The Mavericks did benefit significantly from having three creators in their backcourt rotation after acquiring Dinwiddie midseason. However, they also no longer had a frontcourt option to play through. With the addition of Wood, perhaps Ntilikina fill that void to mitigate the loss of not having a third creator … while also playing some high-energy defense as well.
You can follow Grant Afseth on Twitter at @GrantAfseth.
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