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Last updated: 9/30/2019
Last updated: 9/30/2019
Last updated: 9/30/2019
2022 Free Agents - Frank Ntilikina
Summary
Ntilikina came into the league being seen as a point guard. However, due to his lack of ability to create off the dribble, Ntilikina's best role is likely as a 3-and-D wing. However, Ntilikina is a career 33% three point shooter, so he certainly needs to make shots at a higher rate in order to fulfill that kind of role.
Ntilikina only received limited minutes in '21-'22, but did get some playoffs minutes, as coach Jason Kidd wanted him on the floor for his defense and at times trusted him over other options like Josh Green and Trey Burke. Ntilikina hit 36% from three in '21-'22, which is around league average, but overall he is not a threat from outside and defenses are more than willing to leave him open. He also struggled to hit shots from other areas of the floor, particularly at the rim.
Ntilikina will still only be 24 this summer when he could hit free agency in 2022. The possibility of Ntilikina becoming a star is likely gone, but there could be a decent role player in there somewhere. Could he be similar to Kris Dunn, but a slightly worse defender and a better shooter? I think that's reasonably possible, as Ntilikina has the size to guard multiple positions and has had a very good steal rate for his entire career.
Cap Considerations
Ntilikina's $2 million salary for 2022-2023 is non-guaranteed, and if he is waived he will become an unrestricted free agent and the Mavericks will have no form of Bird rights on him. If he is waived, any team could claim him off waivers since his contract fits within the minimum salary exception.
If the Mavericks feel like they could re-sign Ntilikina to a one-year minimum contract after waiving him, they may want to do that since it will save them roughly $225k on his cap hit (and more importantly, save them even more than that in their luxury tax penalty).
If Ntilikina becomes a free agent, other teams will have multiple ways to sign him as even teams without cap space could use any of the Non-Taxpayer MLE, Taxpayer MLE, Room MLE, or Bi-Annual Exception to sign him. If Ntilikina is waived and clears waivers, his value will likely have dropped low enough that he would only have offers for the minimum.
Potential Teams: Mavericks, Jazz, Trailblazers, Cavaliers, Suns
Predicted Contract: Not waived: $2 million
If waived: 1-year, $2.1 million ($1.8 million cap hit) with the Mavericks
Actual Contract: Not waived: $2 million
After Ntilikina started to get real minutes in the playoffs, it became pretty clear the Mavs would hold onto Ntilikina, and he made it past his guarantee date, so he will not hit free agency in 2022.
Last updated: 7/3/2022
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