New York Knicks: 3 candidates for a breakout season in 2018-19

1. Frank Ntilikina

The last breakout candidate for the New York Knicks is second-year point guard Frank Ntilikina. After former president of basketball operations Phil Jackson selected Ntilikina with the eight overall pick last year, he struggled for most of the season on the offensive end of the floor.

After a lot of fan fare about whether Ntilikina was the correct pick, Ntilikina gave more fuel to his doubters by struggling for most of the season. Ntilikina did show a lot of improvement in his game towards the end of the season that should give Knicks fans hope for the future.

Ntilikina’s defensive abilities help him stay on the floor and while his offensive game is still a work in progress, there are signs of life that fans should be excited for heading into the season.

With Burke and Mudiay competing with Ntilikina for minutes at the point guard position, all three players will get minutes this season and Ntilikina’s defense will help him earn more minutes on this Knicks team.

He is only 20 years ago and many think he is poised for a breakout season  because of his play to end the year.

With his wingspan and length on the floor, Ntilkina will have a chance to show how he improved in the summer. With the Knicks being in rebuilding mode, there will be less pressure on the Knicks to win and less pressure on Ntilikina to prove himself in Year 2.

He looks primed for a breakout season as he showed last season that he has good vision and can run an offense. If he can knock down shots on the perimeter with consistency and now shy away from his jumpshot, he will confuse defenses even more and his production will go up.

Though he didn’t have the seasons like the two prior breakout candidates had last season, Ntilikina’s upside is through the roof and if the end of last year showed anything, it was that Frank Ntilikina is only scratching the surface of his potential.