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Mavs Preseason Profile: Frank Ntilikina Could Have Best Opportunity of His Career
Expectations were tempered when the Dallas Mavericks signed Frank Ntilikina in the 2021 offseason. Ntilikina, who was the No. 8 overall pick by the New York Knicks in the 2017 NBA Draft, showed some nice flashes through four seasons in New York, but was never able to really put things together in order to stay on the court.
Although that hasn't happened yet with the Mavs either, some of those same flashes of potential showed up in Dallas' run to the Western Conference Finals. Now, with Jalen Brunson gone and Spencer Dinwiddie leaving the bench to join Luka Doncic in the starting lineup, the Mavs have a specific need, and Ntilikina will have arguably the biggest opportunity of his career. Will he capitalize on it?
2021-22 Season Review
Although it was in a limited amount of playing time, Ntilikina's numbers last season weren't anything to get riled up about. He appeared in 58 games and averaged 4.1 points, 1.4 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game. He shot just 39.9 percent from the field and 34.2 percent from deep. Ntilikina's best game of the season came on Christmas Day when he put up 17 points, four rebounds and two steals as a starter in a four-point loss to the Utah Jazz.
Before Ntilikina signed with the Mavs, he shot a career-high 47.9 percent from 3-point range with the Knicks during the 2020-21 season. Although that was seen as somewhat of a breakthrough, there's also a good chance it could've simply been an outlier when considering that Ntilikina is a 33.1 percent 3-point shooter so far in his career.
His playoff percentages weren't any better. In fact, they dropped to 33.3 percent from the field and 30 percent from deep. However, Ntilikina played a bigger role than expected in the Mavs' seven-game Western Conference semifinals upset of the top-seeded Phoenix Suns by playing excellent defense on Christ Paul and Devin Booker.
2022-23 Season Preview
Expectations remain tempered for Ntilikina heading into the 2022-23 season ... at least on our end, that is.
In a recent interview with DallasBasketball.com, Mavs owner Mark Cuban had this to say when asked about the team's need for another ball-handler/playmaker off the bench:
“People forget we have Frank (Ntilikina), who will be better this year. We went into last season with Luka, JB and Frank and turned our season around more than a month before the trade deadline. ... I think Christian (Wood) and Frank both (are being underrated heading into the season). In particular, what Frank did defensively (in the postseason) while being sick and banged up was insane.”
Although we agree with Cuban that Ntilikina will be better this season, he still doesn't fit the specific hole the Mavs need to fill. This isn't to say he can't morph into a true secondary playmaker instead of just being a 3-and-D guard ... but it's probably not likely. Like Cuban, we expect Ntilikina to be much better this season, just in his usual role.
Regardless, it looks as if Ntilikina will get ample opportunity to prove that he can be the guy to help make up for Brunson's loss ... as well as two-way signee Tyler Dorsey, rookie Jaden Hardy and perhaps even third-year man Josh Green. If Ntilikina can prove to be more valuable this year than he was last year, he might find himself back in Dallas past his current $2 million expiring contract.
You can follow Dalton Trigg on Twitter at @dalton_trigg
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