DETROIT — With Thursday’s trade deadline passing with no more deals, The Frank & Dennis Show will air soon after the All-Star break.

And Frank Ntilikina can’t wait.

In his first comments since going down with a groin strain on Jan. 27 vs. Miami, Ntilikina expressed genuine enthusiasm to have second-year point guard Dennis Smith Jr. aboard. It sounded like he’d rather be teammates working off each other than rivals constantly compared to each other.

Knicks coach David Fizdale envisions pairing them as a potentially fascinating backcourt tandem. And so does the 20-year-old Frenchman who was selected at No. 8 in the 2017 draft — one spot ahead of Smith.

“I was excited, man,’’ Ntilikina said when he learned of last Thursday’s Kristaps Porzingis blockbuster. “We bring in another young guy as talented as Dennis is exciting. Right now I’m itching to get back on the court and play with him. There’s a lot of potential with this whole team, especially with Dennis and me. We can play together. He can play with or without the ball. I can do the same. I’m just really excited about being back on the court.”

Ntilikina’s groin is not healing as quickly as hoped. Earlier this week, Fizdale said Ntilikina and former starting point guard Emmanuel Mudiay (shoulder) won’t be back until after the All-Star break. The addition of Smith likely makes Mudiay an afterthought since he is a free agent after the season.

There was thought the Knicks would be inclined to move Ntilikina now that Smith is here, but team president Steve Mills still is rolling with the defense-first guard. Mills and Phil Jackson selected Ntilikina over Smith. For two straight trade deadlines, Orlando has inquired about Ntilikina but got rebuffed by Mills.

Ntilikina didn’t seem worried one bit.

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“(Thursday) I was just working on my groin and my body,’’ Ntilikina said. “About the trade deadline, I was just really confident. I know I’m good here in New York. I’m happy to be a Knick. I’m doing everything every day to take that confidence back (into) trying to be the best Knick as possible.”

Fizdale has grown to appreciate the 6-6 Ntilikina — even if he’s not the scoring point guard the coach seems to prefer. Ntilikina brings stuff that Smith, not known as a defensive demon, does not. And vice versa.

If Mudiay was under contract for next season, things might be different regarding the roster depth chart. But now it appears Fizdale will ride Ntilikina and Smith, the explosive guard out of North Carolina State who racked up 25 points with six assists in the Detroit loss Wednesday in just his second game. Smith probably would have gotten 10 assists if the woebegone Knicks (10-43) hit their open shots.

Fizdale is tired of attempting to characterize Ntilikina, who is shooting 34.2 percent and averaging 5.9 points. He has missed the last five games.

“I’ll let them both handle (the ball),’’ Fizdale said. “(Ntilikina) obviously guards the bigger of the two guys. Frank is just a guy, I’m tired of trying to label him. I even can get caught up getting frustrated trying to say, he’s this or he’s that. Nah, he’s just a player. He can do whatever you ask him to do out there. He can play off the ball, he can play on the ball. He can guard multiple guys. I’m done calling him this or that. I just want him to go out there and be a winning player for us.”

Ntilikina and Smith had a cordial relationship when they were rival rookies. Smith told The Post last season Ntilikina was one of the guys he spoke with the most at rookie orientation. Smith said the other night he and Ntilikina were alone in the gym on Tuesday night working on their shots. Both have to work on becoming more reliable 3-point shooters. Ntilikina’s career 3-point percentage is 30.7, while Smith’s is 31.7.

“We know each other,’’ Ntilikina said. “We know when not in the same uniform, you’re always a rival against everyone of your opponents. Now, we’re in the same uniform and it’s exciting. We‘re going to try to get better and make this team better.”

The Knicks coach has grown an appreciation for how Ntilikina has handled his rocky second season — taken out of the rotation twice and being a DNP on Christmas Day after his mother flew in from France for the contest.

Fizdale thinks the addition of Smith will end rivalry narrative that existed between the two players.

“He’s a great teammate,’’ Fizdale said. “He’s a pro. The kid works his tail off to be good. At least we finally got him to a place I feel like that he’s not worried about, ‘I got drafted ahead of this guy and I got this or I got that. I just want to be a good basketball player for the team I play for and help them win.’ I think that’s where he’s at.”

Including Friday’s encounter in Detroit, the Knicks have four games left before next weekend’s extended All-Star break. Their first game back is Feb. 22 vs. Minnesota at the Garden. That could be the start of The Frank & Dennis Show.

Stays humble, positive, and works on his game. If he DNPs he works hard and stays positive. The FO adds in other PGs, he works hard and stays positive. He gets nicked up with injuries, he works hard and stays positive. We talk about culture all the time. These are the little things and character types that are necessary to build the type of culture we "talk about".

At the same time. That passive nature and lack of edge may also hold him back somewhat on the court. Hopefully he can find that medium.

Uptown wrote:Nothing wrong with being a glue guy or a utility player off the bench that can play multiple positions. Every good team needs players like this. These are the players that impact the game in way that wont always show in the box score...The problem with these players is when people expect more than they can give on a consistent basis or be a player that he is not.

I always envisioned him as Aaron Mckie who doesn't get enough credit at all for that Philly run. He dropped 16-5-5 on the Bucks in the ECC with great defense on Ray Allen & Sam Cassell.

Frank needs to fill out more physically given his game though.

Dont Think anyone can or has questioned his professionalism, willingness to work hard or the ability to be a good role player as his floor. Problem is that the Knicks used a lotto pick for one. With that said, still think he has not been given the chance to learn the NbA game. Specifically when and when not to look for his own offense.
Dont think we should give up on him as PG either. Think he has more potential than most on the team to be a decent one. Dont agree with some that say he woild be a good pairing with DSJR. Imo, Smith needs a shooter that can hit the three consistently, at the wing. I am hoping the Knicks get Reddish. If we dont win the lotto game for Zion.

VCoug wrote:

HofstraBBall wrote:Horse glue...what??

Dont Think anyone can or has questioned his professionalism, willingness to work hard or the ability to be a good role player as his floor. Problem is that the Knicks used a lotto pick for one. With that said, still think he has not been given the chance to learn the NbA game. Specifically when and when not to look for his own offense.
Dont think we should give up on him as PG either. Think he has more potential than most on the team to be a decent one. Dont agree with some that say he woild be a good pairing with DSJR. Imo, Smith needs a shooter that can hit the three consistently, at the wing. I am hoping the Knicks get Reddish. If we dont win the lotto game for Zion.

Exactly, we question his ability to play basketball.

Beasley among many many many prospects was a top 2 lottery pick due to his ability to put the ball in the hole, especially in iso. He turned into nothing more than a role player in the NBA. Kanter another example. I could look back at all the previous drafts and identify tons of players that were drafted for their scoring prowess who only became role players.

Prospects are prospects and FOs try to make educated guesses. If they see a player that gets buckets, but doesn't have a quality all around game. They will try to make educated guesses to see if he has the ability to round out his game hoping he becomes that star. If you see a player that you feel can contribute in a multitude of ways, but doesn't have that defined go to skill set. FOs will take educated guesses to see if they can build that up. With Frank they probably were sold on his work ethic to be able to build that up. Frank & KP were a swing for the fence picks hoping that their oversized height and length could take the league by storm down the road. Which makes sense given the fact that the NBA is built around taking advantage of physical advantages. I can get behind a plan like that even if it doesn't workout.

Smith as talented as he is the question still remains if he can be a feature player on a winning team. If he cannot then he will end up a role player all the same.

HofstraBBall wrote:

newyorknewyork wrote:

VCoug wrote:

HofstraBBall wrote:Horse glue...what??

Dont Think anyone can or has questioned his professionalism, willingness to work hard or the ability to be a good role player as his floor. Problem is that the Knicks used a lotto pick for one. With that said, still think he has not been given the chance to learn the NbA game. Specifically when and when not to look for his own offense.
Dont think we should give up on him as PG either. Think he has more potential than most on the team to be a decent one. Dont agree with some that say he woild be a good pairing with DSJR. Imo, Smith needs a shooter that can hit the three consistently, at the wing. I am hoping the Knicks get Reddish. If we dont win the lotto game for Zion.

Exactly, we question his ability to play basketball.

Beasley among many many many prospects was a top 2 lottery pick due to his ability to put the ball in the hole, especially in iso. He turned into nothing more than a role player in the NBA. Kanter another example. I could look back at all the previous drafts and identify tons of players that were drafted for their scoring prowess who only became role players.

Prospects are prospects and FOs try to make educated guesses. If they see a player that gets buckets, but doesn't have a quality all around game. They will try to make educated guesses to see if he has the ability to round out his game hoping he becomes that star. If you see a player that you feel can contribute in a multitude of ways, but doesn't have that defined go to skill set. FOs will take educated guesses to see if they can build that up. With Frank they probably were sold on his work ethic to be able to build that up. Frank & KP were a swing for the fence picks hoping that their oversized height and length could take the league by storm down the road. Which makes sense given the fact that the NBA is built around taking advantage of physical advantages. I can get behind a plan like that even if it doesn't workout.

Smith as talented as he is the question still remains if he can be a feature player on a winning team. If he cannot then he will end up a role player all the same.

Agree with the draft being a crap shoot. And your many examples are indeed true. But are you saying none of those teams regret picking those players or were happy about it?

The main reason I thought Smith was a better roll of the dice. Was that he is an Athletic phenom and has always been towards the top, at every level he played, since an early age. But your right, Smith has a long way to go before he is proven a good pick. But so far, his physical ability has shown he was worth the risk.

Smith had the talent to be the #1 pick in the draft. So it would have also been a worthy risk. Just saying that picking guys that get buckets or jack of all trades master of none players can both be valued in the lottery dependng of course on circumstance. Franks edge(why he wasn't valued as just a role player) was his measurements, character, work ethic yada yada yada. They tried to make the educated guess that this would develop into something of quality. They most likely felt he would be farther along that he is though. But that's the risk.

I was mostly concerned with fit at the time of the draft. Didn't think Phil and the triangle was a good fit for Smith and his style. If Phil was gonna be here and Knicks were gonna run triangle then the results may have been similar to his stay in Dallas this early in his career. Which is why I favored Donovan Mitchell and Frank more.

But under this new set up with Fizz, it should be a better pairing.

Welpee wrote:

HofstraBBall wrote:Dont Think anyone can or has questioned his professionalism, willingness to work hard or the ability to be a good role player as his floor. Problem is that the Knicks used a lotto pick for one.

Bingo! If the goal was to pick up a glue guy we could've traded down and picked up two or three of them.

Would be disingenuous to proclaim they drafted Frank with the goal of him being a glue guy. More likely these things packaged with his oversized frame had them envisioning something greater. Frank was projected as a lottery pick all season when he was coming out and was drafted around his projected range. The only thing that even made it controversial is the teams that passed on DSjr before the Knicks picked.

Would also be hard to really know if he was that type of glue player at 18 yrs old at the time of the draft. Only through his reactions though these trials and tribulations would that start to become established. Lotto pick JJ Reddick is considered a glue guy for reference.

newyorknewyork wrote:

Welpee wrote:

HofstraBBall wrote:Dont Think anyone can or has questioned his professionalism, willingness to work hard or the ability to be a good role player as his floor. Problem is that the Knicks used a lotto pick for one.

Bingo! If the goal was to pick up a glue guy we could've traded down and picked up two or three of them.

Would be disingenuous to proclaim they drafted Frank with the goal of him being a glue guy. More likely these things packaged with his oversized frame had them envisioning something greater. Frank was projected as a lottery pick all season when he was coming out and was drafted around his projected range. The only thing that even made it controversial is the teams that passed on DSjr before the Knicks picked.

Would also be hard to really know if he was that type of glue player at 18 yrs old at the time of the draft. Only through his reactions though these trials and tribulations would that start to become established. Lotto pick JJ Reddick is considered a glue guy for reference.

Phil drafted Frank to run the Triangle. He saw him as the prototypical Triangle player. Thats why he was picked in the first round. Its why Fisher was hired as a coach, while he was still a player, with no coaching experience. He knew how to run the Triangle. Why I was initially concerned about Phil as an exec. He said he wanted a system implimented when he was first hired, not necessarily the Triangle. We know now, that was not true.

I really hope the production comes along one day for him.

newyorknewyork wrote:

GustavBahler wrote:

newyorknewyork wrote:

Welpee wrote:

HofstraBBall wrote:Dont Think anyone can or has questioned his professionalism, willingness to work hard or the ability to be a good role player as his floor. Problem is that the Knicks used a lotto pick for one.

Bingo! If the goal was to pick up a glue guy we could've traded down and picked up two or three of them.

Would be disingenuous to proclaim they drafted Frank with the goal of him being a glue guy. More likely these things packaged with his oversized frame had them envisioning something greater. Frank was projected as a lottery pick all season when he was coming out and was drafted around his projected range. The only thing that even made it controversial is the teams that passed on DSjr before the Knicks picked.

Would also be hard to really know if he was that type of glue player at 18 yrs old at the time of the draft. Only through his reactions though these trials and tribulations would that start to become established. Lotto pick JJ Reddick is considered a glue guy for reference.

Phil drafted Frank to run the Triangle. He saw him as the prototypical Triangle player. Thats why he was picked in the first round. Its why Fisher was hired as a coach, while he was still a player, with no coaching experience. He knew how to run the Triangle. Why I was initially concerned about Phil as an exec. He said he wanted a system implimented when he was first hired, not necessarily the Triangle. We know now, that was not true.

This is true. Now are you saying this as you believe Frank would not have been a lottery pick if not for Phil? Also Gaines pushed for the Frank pick. Phil may have advised what he was looking for and Gaines felt Frank was the best fit, that's very possible. But I am also sure there was more discussed about Frank than just the triangle.

Phil also traded for Rose who was as non triangle PG as you can be.

Yes. Thought Frank should have been picked in the second round, if he was still there. Phil likely told Gaines that he wanted him to find the best player to run his system, and thats what Gaines tried to do. Phil got Rose and Noah, flushed the rebuild, because he got playoff fever. Went for the quick fix.

Believe the worst thing Ive said about Frank is his lack of urgency to become more of a threat on offense. Nothing about his overall work ethic. His offense is at the bottom of the league. Until Frank changes that, he's going to hear it from fans.

Uptown wrote:

GustavBahler wrote:

newyorknewyork wrote:

GustavBahler wrote:

newyorknewyork wrote:

Welpee wrote:

HofstraBBall wrote:Dont Think anyone can or has questioned his professionalism, willingness to work hard or the ability to be a good role player as his floor. Problem is that the Knicks used a lotto pick for one.

Bingo! If the goal was to pick up a glue guy we could've traded down and picked up two or three of them.

Would be disingenuous to proclaim they drafted Frank with the goal of him being a glue guy. More likely these things packaged with his oversized frame had them envisioning something greater. Frank was projected as a lottery pick all season when he was coming out and was drafted around his projected range. The only thing that even made it controversial is the teams that passed on DSjr before the Knicks picked.

Would also be hard to really know if he was that type of glue player at 18 yrs old at the time of the draft. Only through his reactions though these trials and tribulations would that start to become established. Lotto pick JJ Reddick is considered a glue guy for reference.

Phil drafted Frank to run the Triangle. He saw him as the prototypical Triangle player. Thats why he was picked in the first round. Its why Fisher was hired as a coach, while he was still a player, with no coaching experience. He knew how to run the Triangle. Why I was initially concerned about Phil as an exec. He said he wanted a system implimented when he was first hired, not necessarily the Triangle. We know now, that was not true.

This is true. Now are you saying this as you believe Frank would not have been a lottery pick if not for Phil? Also Gaines pushed for the Frank pick. Phil may have advised what he was looking for and Gaines felt Frank was the best fit, that's very possible. But I am also sure there was more discussed about Frank than just the triangle.

Phil also traded for Rose who was as non triangle PG as you can be.

Yes. Thought Frank should have been picked in the second round, if he was still there. Phil likely told Gaines that he wanted him to find the best player to run his system, and thats what Gaines tried to do. Phil got Rose and Noah, flushed the rebuild, because he got playoff fever. Went for the quick fix.

Believe the worst thing Ive said about Frank is his lack of urgency to become more of a threat on offense. Nothing about his overall work ethic. His offense is at the bottom of the league. Until Frank changes that, he's going to hear it from fans.

Couldn't have said it any better...The issue with Frank is where he was picked and who was left on the board...What Frank brings to the table, in my opinion, could have been had late in the first round. There is no doubt in my mind that phil picked Frank because he envisioned him as a triangle player...IIMO, No way would Perry have selected Frank at 8...

Lampe was projected as a lotto pick and he fell to 8 so it is possible Frank could have fell the same. Odds are Dallas would have taken the gamble if not another team. None of that is Franks fault though. He hasn't done anything wrong other than enter the draft to early. Only been a hard working good teammate since.

Knicks tried to get a late private workout with Smith who refused and didn't want to offer medical records. I mean that's a pretty big reason why he wasn't selected. Mitchell was the next in line who I felt would have been a great fit since he had all the measurables, athleticism, and popped out on tape. With none of the baggage as well as a more proven track record in college. Given his teams success in a tough conference with no other NBA players.

Each prospect brought his own unique things to the table. As they all do. Malik Monk was viewed highly on this board. He should have been a 2nd round pick as well.