Knicks Trade Rumors: NY Had 'Opportunities' to Move Frank Ntilikina This Season

The New York Knicks reportedly had "opportunities" to trade Frank Ntilikina this season but chose to hold onto the former first-round pick.

"Just a quick note on Ntilikina's future—I do know that there were opportunities earlier in the season to move him, but there were people in the organization opposed to making deals at that time," SNY.tv's Ian Begley said Wednesday on The Putback.

"Now, obviously, he's going to be a restricted free agent. Don't know exactly what's going to happen there, but there was some pushback against trade opportunities, different trade opportunities that came up with Ntilikina."

Ntilikina has appeared in only 24 games this season and has played 11 total minutes in the month of April as he's fallen out of the rotation.

The No. 8 pick in the 2017 draft, Ntilikina has never found a rhythm at the NBA level for an extended period. While he's flashed potential on the defensive end, Ntilikina has been one of the worst offensive guards in basketball over the past four seasons. He's averaged just 5.6 points and 2.8 assists per game for his career while shooting 36.6 percent from the floor.

It's unclear what other teams were offering in exchange for Ntilikina, but it's hard to imagine much more than a conditional second-round pick.

Ntilikina will be a restricted free agent this offseason and will likely find a limited market of interest. He'll likely have to find a change of scenery as a minimum-contract player for the 2021-22 season, where he'll hopefully find better luck improving offensively.