Just when you think the Knicks are about to give Frank Ntilikina his chance, that one shining moment when he tells everyone in the NBA, “Oui oui, motherfuckers, I belong ici,” he picks up another injury.

When that long-armed, defensive prototype returns, he’ll find himself behind Dennis Smith Jr., the man drafted one spot behind him… the man who LeBron James said the Knicks should have drafted… the man who many Knicks fans wished the Knicks drafted… the man who David Fizdale is sure to start at point guard (rightfully so) for the rest of the season.

When Emmanuel Mudiay returns, who knows whether Frank will be above or behind him in the pecking order. Fizdale plays favorites, and it’s no secret that he’s preferred Mudiay to Frank – and if you’re solely looking at their output on the floor, it’s hard to blame him.

Fizdale is by no means in the business of securing wins, but in developing players. And while it’s his duty to develop Ntilikina, he wants to be able to prove that those developmental capabilities are more than media guff.

So, when Mudiay showed that he was a semi-capable offensive player in a league which already values offensive exponentially more than defense (see Rudy Gobert’s All-Star snub), and which has made anti-defense rule changes this season, it’s very difficult to blame Fizdale for playing Mudiay ahead of Ntilikina.

But now, the Knicks ridded themselves of two ball-dominant guards in Tim Hardaway Jr. and Trey Burke, leaving Smith Jr., Ntilikina, Mudiay, Allonzo Trier, Wesley Matthews and Kadeem Allen (when he’s not in the G-League) as the only backcourt ball-handlers on the roster. Matthews is more of a traditional off guard, and it’s doubtful Allen gets more minutes than Ntilikina.

Fizdale has posited the idea of Ntilikina and Smith Jr. operating together in the backcourt in select minutes, but it seems more like something he plans to experiment with half heartedly than to make a genuine full-sail attempt at.

If it works quickly, Fizdale might amend the minutes and keep that potentially compelling defense-offense duo of Ntilikina and Smith Jr. as a starting option, but that doesn’t seem like his style. Frank will likely come off the bench for most of the season because Fizdale, like most fans, front offices and many media members, operates on a “What have you done for me lately?” basis that hinders the growth of many young players.

Whereas many people have given up on Ntilikina, I see the error of so many front offices that have forgotten the path of Victor Oladipo, D’Angelo Russell, Tim Hardaway Jr., and so many more. Guards, especially point guards who aren’t offense-first players, often take longer than others to figure it out, and are given up on before their development can run its course.

And while Frank’s numbers are undoubtedly concerning, he’s a fucking 20-year-old. Me, at the moment of writing this, I’m 22. My girlfriend, who is studying abroad right now, is 20. Neither of us have a clear-cut career planned out for us, let alone a full grasp of the skills we have or might hone.

To expect anyone around our age to have mastered their craft (let alone while adapting to life in the biggest media market in the world with English as a second language and without have family around, a topic which, for some godforsaken reason, no one seems to talk about) is absurd.

You have players like Donovan Mitchell, Jayson Tatum and Luka Doncic who set an incalculably high basketball standard at an age in which they go home from a basketball game and hop on Fortnite (abysmal game, by the way). We shouldn’t expect other players to immediately match up to that standard, and certainly not within the same timeframe. Yet, with life and media now on a by-the-second basis, we expect things now.

Sure, someone might turn out to be good, but until they do, they’re bad.

They’re so fucking bad. They’re terrible. They’re trash. They’re a bust. We’d be lucky to get anything for them. They’re worthless. I can’t believe we drafted them.

But Frank Ntilikina is not bad at basketball. He’s inconsistent offensively, fouls too much defensively, struggles with injuries at a concerning rate for a young player, and seems to not trust himself like he should with the ball.

BUT.

BUT....

Ntilikina will figure it out. And the longer it takes, the cheaper he gets.

His shot mechanics are solid, his ball-handling ability is impressive and improving (but is rarely on display because he picks up his dribble at a frustratingly high rate), his frame and quickness present a matchup nightmare, and his instincts are impressive. He’s only going to get better.

Look at it this way. The Knicks might end up with Kyrie Irving next year. If they don’t trade for Anthony Davis, they’ll have a bench backcourt of Smith Jr. and Ntilikina.

Even if Irving doesn’t come to New York, there is no shot in hell that Frank puts up numbers worthy of an eight-figure contract extension. If Irving does come, it’ll be even more assured that that statistical growth doesn’t occur.

Here’s why I think (by “think,” I mean I hope, deep within my bones) that the Knicks are aware of how talented Frank is, but realize that they can minimize his contract value to maximize their return on investment. That’s putting a lot of faith in the Knicks – which, as we all know, is a massive mistake – but here goes.

Frank strikes me as a player who will take until he’s about 24 or 25 to really figure it out and begin his starter-quality peak. Next year, he’ll be 21, and after that year, the Knicks will be able to offer him a rookie contract extension. Even if Ntilikina keeps improving (he will), it seems doubtful that he’s going to take a massive jump – at least on the stat sheet – in either of the next two seasons.

But he has the skillset, mindset and body to become the ideal system point guard. He’s been surrounded with Tim Hardaway Jr., Kristaps Porzingis, Enes Kanter and Allonzo Trier. All of those guys run through iso play, and Frank is a guy who thrives with ball movement. If you let him and Smith Jr. run a second-team backcourt, opposing teams are going to be presented with some massive problems.

Both players are long and athletic, and the Knicks have prioritized that sort of athleticism in recent years, and will likely continue to do so as they fill out their roster, for players which those two guards can run the second team with.

My prediction is that Smith Jr. and Ntilikina will create and 1-2, ying-yang punch off the bench that’s better than some of the league’s starting backcourts, while Irving mans the front court (if Irving comes).

But Smith Jr. is the one in that duo who will see the credit on the stat sheet.

After next year, the Knicks will be able to, and should extend Ntilikina at his bare minimum value for as long as they can. If they do, the absolute worst case scenario is that he can’t stay healthy and runs offenses into the ground as an overpaid Tony Allen.

Actually, it’s the Knicks, so the worst case is they pay Frank, don’t pay Smith Jr., and Frank never improves while Smith Jr. becomes a star. There’s also the inverse of that with Frank, if they choose to let him go and the Spurs inevitably turn him into a stud.

Yet, if Ntilikina stays healthy, at bare minimum, you have a tradable guy who’s likely to improve each season and is already a defensive enigma for opponents.

If the Knicks and Ntilikina keep the current trajectory on course, with Fizdale limiting Ntilikina’s minutes while Ntilikina produces less-than-astounding statistical returns, New York will be able to secure an amazing backcourt bargain for the foreseeable future.