Why the next month could make or break Frank Ntilikina's Knicks future

Frank Ntilikina returned to the Knicks lineup on Sunday after missing 13 games due to a right knee injury.

He didn’t play that night against the Portland Trail Blazers, and it’s unclear if he’ll be in Tom Thibodeau’s rotation on Tuesday against the Utah Jazz. Regardless, the next 19 games will probably tell you a lot about Ntilikina’s future with the Knicks.

Here’s why: Ntilikina is in the final year of his rookie contract. The current Knicks regime – led by team president Leon Rose – hasn’t had much of an opportunity to analyze Ntilikina’s play.

The season was suspended six games into Rose’s presidency last season, and Ntilikina played four games this year before he was sidelined with a sprained right MCL.

Now that Ntilikina is back and healthy, it’s logical to assume the Knicks will use the next month to help inform their decision on Ntilikina’s future.

If Ntilikina plays – and plays well – maybe that leads New York to consider re-signing him as a restricted free agent this offseason. If he doesn’t earn a spot in Thibodeau’s rotation over the next six weeks, that would seem to be a sign that the Knicks don’t intend to re-sign Ntilikina.

I’d use the next six weeks as a guide because the first half of the season concludes on March 2. The second half of the season is scheduled to start after March 10, so that’s roughly two weeks before the NBA trade deadline. 

If the Knicks aren’t planning to re-sign Nitlikina in the offseason, you’d think they try to trade him before the March 25 deadline.

Coming into the season, I thought that Ntilikina, Dennis Smith Jr., Kevin Knox and the other young Knicks would be given an opportunity to prove themselves to Rose and the new regime.

Ntilikina was given that chance in training camp and the preseason. He mostly played well during the first four games of the regular season, particularly in the Knicks’ win over the Bucks. So, it was unfortunate that Ntilikina suffered a knee sprain early in the Dec. 29 game against Cleveland.

Now, he’ll have to leapfrog a guard in Thibodeau’s rotation – Alec Burks? Austin Rivers? – to earn regular minutes.

“Right now, we have a rotation, but things can change,” Thibodeau said Monday.

On Ntilikina, the coach added: “I like his versatility a lot. We have some guys that are similar. I think Alec is a three-position guy, Austin is a three-position guy. That was something we were looking to do when we were putting the roster together. So everyone will get an opportunity at some point. That’s where we are right now.”

The opportunities Ntilikina gets between now and the end of the first half of the season may give you an indication about his future with the team.