Yeah, but you could also make a case the Frank fans have unnecessarily shytted on Fizdale, DSJ, Mudiay, etc., because of undying support for Frank. Objectively speaking, Ntilikina had a terrible rookie year, which was understandable, but he made zero to very little tangible improvements in his sophomore year. It's still fair to be skeptical for him and his path to getting minutes will be difficult. There is a log jam in most positions on the team. If he could leapfrog Payton based on his individual play, I'd be happy
I don't think the critiques of Fiz or Mudiay were simply because of Frank there was more to them. DSJ, I don't even remember catching much heat besides some exasperation that his injuries meant we had to watch Mudiay again.
With Mudiay, he just wasn't good and became a score first guard right before our eyes. He tied a career low in APG while notching the second most minutes of his career; didn't play a lick of defense; and it was plain to see that he had no future with the team. He was a waste of minutes and not good enough to excuse it...forget Frank, Kadeem Allen was superior to him.
With Fiz, prioritizing keeping vets happy and being completely unable to develop an identity for the team was the problem. His offensive system never got past some of the most simplistic schemes. You could argue that his hands were tied because of the talent on the roster, but there's a reason no one can make a firm rotation prediction and it goes beyond our many logjams. For this team to succeed, they'll need an offensive system with more plays involved and also he needs to actually have accountability on defense. Players regressed defensively last year (Frank included) and bad habits started to develop (Dotson sleeping on the backdoor cuts for example).
As far as Ntilikina, yep he objectively regressed last year. That's still not a reason to cut him when he's 21, cost controlled, plays high level defense and we don't need the roster space or the cap space with so many player options and being years away from contention. This isn't an argument that he belongs in or out of the rotation. It's that you don't throw away a prospect just to throw him away. Pick up his option and if it's not working out try to deal him at the deadline, he showed enough in FIBA that the Knicks should at least be able to recoup a second round pick for him in that case. His contract is too low and he tracks as at least a defensive specialist, someone will take him. But if you don't pick up his option and things aren't working out, teams might as well wait for him to expire instead.
