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Minnesota Timberwolves draft profile: Frank Ntilikina

By Brian Sampson

Nov 14, 2015; Washington, DC, USA; The French flag is displayed during a moment of silence before the game between the Washington Wizards and the Orlando Magic at Verizon Center. The Washington Wizards won 108 - 99. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 14, 2015; Washington, DC, USA; The French flag is displayed during a moment of silence before the game between the Washington Wizards and the Orlando Magic at Verizon Center. The Washington Wizards won 108 - 99. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports /
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Strengths

Frank Ntilikina’s biggest strength may be his long, athletic frame. Ntilikina stands 6-foot-5 and weighs 170 pounds. It is unknown exactly how long his wingspan in but scouts believe that it is longer than his height.

Even though Ntilikina is undersized at 170 pounds, he has broad shoulders and a frame that will support his body in getting stronger. He’s also only 18 years old so he has plenty of time to add and build muscle.

The Ringer refers to Ntilikina as a “defensive stopper” and “capable of defending reliably as a rookie.” This is huge praise as most rookies, especially teenagers, aren’t capable of playing adequate defense at the NBA level.

It appears that Ntilikina has a great motor and is constantly working on both ends of the floor. This is especially evident when he is fighting through screens and engaged while playing defense off the ball.

On offense, Ntilikina has already seen positive returns from his hard work in the gym. While he did make huge strides in his outside shooting this season, an improvement of about 14 percentage points from the year before, he still struggles in that area. Scouts believe that he will turn into a good catch and shoot scorer at some point but that remains a question mark.

Ntilikina is an unselfish player and looks to set up his teammates in a true point guard way. We will discuss his passing in the next section but the intent and court vision is there, to be sure.

It’s easy to see why Frank Ntilikina is considered a sure-fire lottery pick as he has a good base of strengths to work off. With continuous time in the gym and weight room, he will see huge dividends in his play on the court.