When he was a potential draft target of the Mavericks back in 2017, Frank Ntilikina was also known as French Frank.
That’s because the Strasburg native had an impossible-to-pronounce last name.
For the record, it’s NIL-uh-KEE-nuh.
“The T is silent,” he said.
OK, with that detail sorted out, the 6-4 guard can get on to more pressing matters.
Like pressing.
Known for his work as a defender all over the court, Ntilikina has fallen under the radar the past couple of seasons with the New York Knicks, who chose him with the eighth overall pick in 2017, directly ahead of the Mavericks’ choice of Dennis Smith Jr.
He has a reputation as a defense-first player who can’t shoot very proficiently. But the small sample size from last season would suggest differently, at least on the shooting. He hit nearly half of his 3-point shots (23-of-48) in limited minutes for the Knicks.
That came after shooting just 31.1 percent from 3-point land in his first three seasons, when he had markedly more playing time.
But one of the keys about Ntilikina is that he just turned 23. He’s going into his fifth NBA season, but he’s still not reached anything close to his prime yet.
“You look at his defense, it’s incredible what he can do with his length,” coach Jason Kidd said. “And then on the offensive end, I think he’s starting to become a little more comfortable shooting the ball.
“But he’s still young. I know we call some guys old at 23 or 24. But he came into the league at 18. So I think we’re getting him at the right time on his journey to have success for him. We got lucky to get him.”
It’s the defense that the Mavericks wanted more than anything when the Knicks decided not to pick up the final season on Ntilikina’s rookie contract, making him a free agent.
Ntilikina hopes to help make the Mavericks a better defensive team, possibly even a top-tier group of defenders.
“That’s what we’re looking to become, definitely,” he said. “It comes from practice, but it transfers to the game. Us being a really good group and bringing that competitiveness at practice is going to help us reach the next step during this season. We’re trying to improve together and see where we can learn from each other and teach each other.”
That means it’s Ntilikina’s job, along with Reggie Bullock, Dorian Finney-Smith and Sterling Brown, to establish defensive grit in practices against Luka Dončić and Kristaps Porzingis.
“That’s the side of the ball game we can improve to reach our goals,” Ntilikina said. “To focus on that side of the ball is good for us.”
Ntilikina, originally born in Belgium but who moved to Strasburg at a young age, considers France his home.
He also considers a couple of Mavericks to be good friends. Kristaps Porzingis was with Ntilikina on the Knicks for two seasons. And so was Reggie Bullock.
“Frank’s great. He has a great mindset, great head on his shoulders,” Porzingis said. “He’s been in tough situations where he was not playing. He was a high draft pick. And when you go through those kind of things, you mature a lot and when you go through some adversity, it helps you.
“He’s always a guy who is working out, always in shape. Whenever you let him play, he’s going to leave 100 percent out there. And that’s the type of guy you want on a winning team.”
Said Bullock: “He’s a great defender. He’s a great teammate. I felt like he probably didn’t get the best of his opportunity when he was in New York. They called him the prince for a reason. Now he’s a prince down here in the south part. I’m glad to have him here and help me get some nights off (from covering the opposing scorers). He’s going to be a great asset.”
It’s unclear how big of a role Ntilikina will have, but his want-to has never been questioned.
And he’s excited about playing for a coach who was one of the best point guards in NBA history.
“He’s one of the best players at my position of all time,” Ntilikina said of Kidd. “I really want to pick his brain. For me, personally, into the next step of my career, I feel it’s a really good situation for me – seeing where this team was last year and being alongside Luka.”
Speaking of Dončić, Ntilikina’s French team was the one that defeated Luka’s Slovenian team in the semifinals at the Tokyo Olympics in August.
After that game, Ntilikina sought out Dončić and offered some words of encouragement.
“During the competition, he broke records,” Ntilikina said. “I (said) I know you’re disappointed with the loss, but you can be proud of what you did during this whole competition. That was not easy.
“To me, it was just something to tell him to be proud of and keep his head up.”
Now, the two are teammates and the Mavericks likely will have Ntilikina as one of the playmakers behind Dončić.
“With Luka being the primary ballhandler, 82 games is a lot, obviously,” Ntilikina said. “You get physical games, physical players, so having many options with many ballhandlers that can play with or without the ball is going to make us special.”
Twitter: @ESefko
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