As a top-10 pick and foundation piece of the Knicks’ rebuilding process, Frank Ntilikina is going to play in the NBA. But to play well — to be able to start, defend and excel — the young Frenchman is going to have to get bigger and stronger. The wiry 19-year-old is going to have to work as much on his body as his game.
“I’ve been working on my body so far, I’ve been working on my game, on my shot, so it’s good,” Ntilikina said Friday at the Knicks’ training facility in Tarrytown.
“I’ve been working on my body all summer. It’s very important for European players that come from overseas, the first thing we have to do is build our body. You see a lot of changes from every European player versus in the NBA. So I think it’s an important thing for me to do, so I’ve been working on this, working on my game, as [is] every player here.”
The eighth-overall pick talked about wanting to compete against the other elite point guards drafted (such as Markelle Fultz and Lonzo Ball) at a photo shoot for his Panini trading cards. But even surrounded by other rookies, he looked spindly and baby-faced.
Ntilikina is 6-foot-5 and listed at just 190 pounds. To even compete with unheralded Ron Baker and newly signed Ramon Sessions, he “needs to continue getting stronger,” as his draft profile on the league’s website reads.
He admitted as much himself.
“Yeah, I mean we all know it’s a different level here,’’ Ntilikina said. “But I think defense itself is about mindset and about physical [toughness]. You have to be physically strong. Whatever happens, I will work on it.
“I know I have to work on my body to be able to do some things in the NBA. All these guys are stronger than overseas players. It’s a challenge. I’ll just go in the training room, go on the court and work on it and fix it to try to be the best player I can be.”
To that end, Ntilikina has been working out not only with the Knicks’ team staff, but also with Chris Brickley, Carmelo Anthony’s longtime trainer. Brickley posted a video of Ntilikina working on his handle, his 3-point shooting and — most notably — his finishing, something he will need to improve.
Ntilikina not only shares a trainer with Anthony, but an agent as well. The question is whether they ever will be on the same team, with rumors swirling the Knicks could trade Anthony before the season starts.
For his part, Ntilikina would love to play alongside the 10-time All-Star.
“[It’d be] good. As with any other All-Star player, he did a lot of great things in his career,” Ntilikina said. “So, I mean, just for what he did it would be good.”
The Knicks inked Sessions to a veteran minimum deal, essentially to serve as a tutor for Ntilikina. Sessions started just 143 games — only 35 in the past five seasons combined — but has a decade of NBA experience to share.
“We talked a little bit. He’s a great guy,” Ntilikina said. “I’m just looking forward to playing with him. I know he’s here to give me a lot of advice, and he has been a great player in the NBA, so just to have him there and have him as a mentor [is good].”
Ntilikina — fully recovered the bone bruise that kept him out of the Orlando Summer League — said he has been in communication with Knicks star Kristaps Porzingis, but understands the Latvian is preoccupied with the FIBA EuroBasket championships starting later this month.
“Text messages,’’ Ntilikina said. “We’ll talk more when he comes back. But I wish him all the best in the European championship. I can’t wait to see him.”
Ntilikina has impressed some of his Knicks teammates.
“Just looking at his game film on Youtube and his highlights and talking to a lot of guys, he’s a long, athletic point guard who’s going to get after it and plays with a lot of energy,” Courtney Lee said Thursday on SiriusXM NBA Radio. “And he’s [19], so the youth is definitely good for us also. I’m looking forward to playing with him.”