Frank Ntilikina

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Frank Ntilikina 

Post#1 » by bwgood77 » Tue Nov 15, 2016 5:15 am

What do people think of this guy?

http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Frank-Ntilikina-77051/

Frank Ntilikina, 6'5, Strasbourg, France, 1998

Jonathan Givony

Strengths:
-Has excellent size for a point guard at 6'5, to go along with a nice frame and a very long wingspan (possibly close to 7-feet).
-Plays with terrific pace. Never looks rushed. Has the ball on a string. Knows when to speed up and when to slow down. Has outstanding potential on the pick and roll.
-Terrific passer with exquisite court vision. Distributes in many different ways. Constantly looking to find open man. Extremely unselfish.
-Seems to be making progress with his outside shot. Knocked down jumpers all camp long, particularly shooting off the dribble. Shooting 85% from the free throw line this season, which is encouraging.
-Multi-positional defender. Has excellent tools to lock down either guard spot with size and length, but also puts great pride in his work on this end of the floor. Can put strong pressure on the ball. Does a great job of staying in front.
-Gets blocks, steals and rebounds with his physical tools and feel for the game
-Terrific intangibles and family background. Looks like a coach's dream.

Weaknesses:
-Career 72/231 (31%) 3-point shooter. Showed the ability to throw the ball in the basket, but still does not have ideal mechanics and has struggled in particular in French junior league play this season (16/66 3P in 14 games).
-Unselfish to a fault at times. Overpasses when it would be in his team's best interest for him to simply go and score. Spent too much time trying to get his lesser-talented teammates involved, which may have contributed to relegating his BWB team to the loser's bracket.
-Doesn't get to the free throw line at a great rate, partially due to lack of aggressiveness and partially due to lack of strength.
-Still filling out physically like most 17-year olds. Lack of strength has hampered him from seeing too many minutes at pro level thus far.

Outlook: Incredibly mature 17-year old. Carries himself like a pro. Arguably the top prospect at the entire camp in terms of physical tools, current production and long-term upside. Continues to improve every time we see him. Seeing a handful of minutes at the highest levels of European basketball with Strasbourg as a third string PG.


Click on link for full article and video
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Re: Frank Ntilikina 

Post#2 » by GimmeDat » Tue Nov 15, 2016 8:26 am

I like him, but my gut feeling is he might become the forgotten man amongst the bevy of lottery PG prospects this year, particularly because he seems pretty raw in comparison.

He appears to be a very similar prospect to Exum, but without the elite first step. Really big, long PG prospect, solid athleticism, composed and unselfish, not the prettiest shot but is developing in to a steady catch and shoot threat, should be well above average defensively, and should be able to play minutes at either guard spot.

With Exum slow to get going (not helped by the ACL), maybe that's not the most favourable comparison for him to hold going in to the draft, but it feels super accurate when you watch both of them play.

As of now, I'd have him going in the 5-10 range. I think he ranks below Fultz, Smith, Ball but probably above Fox.
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Re: Frank Ntilikina 

Post#3 » by UcanUwill » Tue Nov 15, 2016 11:06 am

I saw one SIG game this year, but he barely played. Hes a big mystery to me, I am not sure if I like this trend of NBA teams taking Euros who are buried on the bench in Europe, with a very high loto picks (Hezonja, Bender).
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Re: Frank Ntilikina 

Post#4 » by coutournant » Tue Nov 15, 2016 12:09 pm

I follow him a lot and I think he's very talented, he's a combination of elite bball IQ, all-around skills and insane measurements.
But I think he's far from being ready for the NBA. He lacks strength an mental toughness.
He should wait one year before going to the draft, I'm afraid he'll bust if he goes too early in the NBA. He doesn't have enough playing time to gain the confidence he lacks. He's a smart guy and I think he won't fast-track the process. His upside is huge though he could develop as one of the best PG both offensively and defensively
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Re: Frank Ntilikina 

Post#5 » by LuessiT » Tue Nov 15, 2016 1:06 pm

Actually his chance of busting is pretty low imo. Sure, he lacks strength right now, but put him in an NBA franchise and considering his age and work ethic this shouldn't be for too long. His handling (even though he is barely showing it right now since he mostly plays off-ball) and bball IQ also will easily translate, as will his defense once he builds up enough core strength.
I'm more worried about his offensive ceiling since he lacks scoring. He moves pretty well off-ball and right now his shot is falling, but the mechanics are a bit funky. He has the handles to make shots of the dribble, but again he hasn't shown that yet. He also is subpar at finishing at the rim, even though he has the size, length, handles and athleticism to be able to.

I really hope Frank falls to the Bucks.
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Re: Frank Ntilikina 

Post#6 » by No-Man » Tue Nov 15, 2016 3:57 pm

Has impressed me this year, playing off-ball a ton for Strasbourg since they have a few guys that are usage heavy, esp. Erving Walker ex-Gator professional chucker, and he's been reliable, form looks good, still a bit flat and unbalanced as a pull-up guy but if he can hit open ones that's a plus, superpoised and with the size to be a nightmare on defense, in general I am higher on him than I was on Exum and I had Dante top3 back then, so that's saying a lot.
I doubt he is ever like a high scoring guy, but man as a complimentary guy he looks superb.
He is a more natural ballhandler and floor general than Exum at the same age without a doubt, Dante had that 1st step, quickness and shiftiness to create open lanes and abuse people but Frank while not the same guy in a pinch, can do more in terms of runing sets and operating on the PnR.
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Re: Frank Ntilikina 

Post#7 » by cksdayoff » Mon Jan 9, 2017 11:44 pm

Just saw that U18 final clip on youtube. He's built like a truck, long wingspan and can shoot the rock. How is he athletically? he could be a SG at the next level. Could have elite shooting ability.
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Re: Frank Ntilikina 

Post#8 » by jrob23 » Tue Jan 10, 2017 12:39 am

Not impressed. He's by far the most overrated prospect to me. His release is slow, he's too upright with his handle and while he's long and tall, he isn't explosive. I see a bunch of highlights with him dominating slow, unathletic white Euros and even in them he's banking 3 ptrs and taking wild layups and tear drops. I don't get it. What I do see is someone who might be able to play SG and be a defensive pest...eventually. I think he'll max out at 2015 Avery Bradley. Contributing offense and elite D. Tony Allen with upside offensively. That's still a heck of a player but it'll take years to get there. Worth probably a 15-25 draft selection in this draft class.

I know I'm alone in this thinking so we'll just have to wait and see how it plays out. It might be better if a team stashes him for a year or two and keeps him off ball so eventually he's more a combo guard than PG where I don't see him having a future at.
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Re: Frank Ntilikina 

Post#9 » by nitocobola » Tue Jan 10, 2017 12:53 am

jrob23 wrote:Worth probably a 15-25 draft selection in this draft class.


disagree... I think that he is nice prospect for a ten pick.

To be honest, I will pick Fox before
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Re: Frank Ntilikina 

Post#10 » by reanimator » Tue Jan 10, 2017 1:27 am

Doesn't need to be overly explosive with his length/height and he is more than fluid/shifty enough to get where he needs and has decent verticality. I agree that his jumper is slow and will go a long ways in determining where he maxes out but that is correctable. If he is just a utility guard I would not be mad but the upside is up there with the 4 Americans. I suspect coaching/team culture is going to be KEY with him but the physical tools and ball skills are there to mold into something special.
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Re: Frank Ntilikina 

Post#11 » by ILikeLollies » Tue Jan 10, 2017 1:48 am

If the sixers have 2 picks this draft, yes please.
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Re: Frank Ntilikina 

Post#12 » by Mulhollanddrive » Tue Jan 10, 2017 3:54 am

He's very slow for a PG that's the worry. But there's 8-10 players in this draft who are one attribute away from being a top 3 pick, so outside the top 2 it's a matter of picking the flaw you can live with.
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Re: Frank Ntilikina 

Post#13 » by franckyvinvin12 » Tue Jan 10, 2017 7:12 am

I'm not sure the Exum comparison is the best for him actually. The only thing Exum had on him as a prospect was his quick first step, which I think was overrated and did not translate because he doesn't have the handles to make drives consistently at the NBA level.

I think Ntilikina has a pretty good floor because of his defensive capabilities, and promising 3-point shot. I think it is quite safe to assume that he could be a George Hill kind of guy easily, and imo George Hill - while not a star in the NBA - is pretty much a guy which is gonna be helpful to whatever team he's in.

Then, on top of that good floor, there's a gamble on what he could develop into. His court vision is close to elite I think, so then the question is : can he get into the paint and score at the rim ? It would open up his passing game with drives and kick etc. Right now he's limited in that regard. I think his handle is quite developed at his age but not elite (is it safe to assume it will improve ?), and he's athletic but no Derrick Rose, so he can't just blow by his defender. And then, if he develops his handle, we'll see if he has it in him to be agressive and to go to the rim.
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Re: Frank Ntilikina 

Post#14 » by Kolkmania » Tue Jan 10, 2017 9:48 am

It's so hard to judge the athletic abilities of an European prospect. Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot looked physically elite at Mega Leks, although he's showing some lateral quickness lately, but his verticality is a bit underwhelming. I think that the general trend of the last years is that young big men have an easier time adjusting to the NBA than guards if they're from Europe.
Think that's the case with Frank Ntilikina as well. I like his vision, his shooting mechanics and toughness on the defensive end. Will probably struggle with dribble penetration in his first years though, perhaps better off as an shooting guard in his first years.
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Re: Frank Ntilikina 

Post#15 » by jrob23 » Tue Jan 10, 2017 9:01 pm

nitocobola wrote:
jrob23 wrote:Worth probably a 15-25 draft selection in this draft class.


disagree... I think that he is nice prospect for a ten pick.

To be honest, I will pick Fox before


I don't see how. So 5 point guards in the lottery? You have outstanding prospects at every position and the 5th point guard goes before some of them? Just a preliminary look:

Fultz
Ball
Tatum
Giles
Jackson
Smith
Patton
Monk
Fox
Leaf
Ferguson
Adebayo
Bridges
Isaac
Rabb
Markkanen
Anunoby
Jeanne
Hartenstein
Mushidi
Justin Jackson
Hart
Allen
Ntilikina
Lammers
Bell

I could see him being taken before the upper classmen and Euros right above him but that still puts him late teens. There's just way too much talent to settle for a project combo guard imo. BTW...every single guy listed could be an eventual starter. That's a deep class
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Re: Frank Ntilikina 

Post#16 » by reanimator » Tue Jan 10, 2017 9:50 pm

The thought of taking guys like Leaf, Rabb and Ferguson over Frank made me chuckle a little.
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Re: Frank Ntilikina 

Post#17 » by Dr Positivity » Wed Jan 11, 2017 11:10 pm

I wouldn't take him 1st round, I am numbers centrics for internationals and last on French Pro A team in PER is a major stay away
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Re: Frank Ntilikina 

Post#18 » by jrob23 » Wed Jan 11, 2017 11:44 pm

reanimator wrote:The thought of taking guys like Leaf, Rabb and Ferguson over Frank made me chuckle a little.


that's a natural response when you overrate someone.
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Re: Frank Ntilikina 

Post#19 » by reanimator » Thu Jan 12, 2017 12:05 am

Its the appropriate one when someone repetitively types their opinion no one cares for. Frank has the most defensive potential, offers GMs the most roster flexibility, has the highest overall ceiling and is the most dynamic offensively out of the guys I listed but is behind them? :lol:
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Re: Frank Ntilikina 

Post#20 » by doordoor123 » Thu Jan 12, 2017 3:00 am

jrob23 wrote:
reanimator wrote:The thought of taking guys like Leaf, Rabb and Ferguson over Frank made me chuckle a little.


that's a natural response when you overrate someone.


But rating someone is different than ranking someone. It's also different from mock drafts and those are different from the actual draft. Real drafts aren't as predictable as you might imagine and teams often don't even pick for need, rather for development. This year especially with the bigger roster next year. Some teams go for help immediately and ditch the upside.

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