DALLAS -- On Thursday, the Dallas Mavericks signed Frank Ntilikina as a free agent. This guard will be added to their roster before Dennis Smith Jr. is selected in the top 10 draft picks for 2017.
Ntilikina was drafted eighth by the New York Knicks in 2004. He spent four years with them. Smith was drafted ninth by the Mavericks. The Mavericks traded Smith to the Knicks one year later in the huge deal that brought Kristaps porzingis to Dallas.
Ntilikina (23 years old) averaged 5.5 and 2.7 assists for the Knicks. He was born in Belgium and moved to France at the age of three. In 2015, he began his professional career with the Knicks in a French league.
Ntilikina was a French athlete in the Tokyo Olympics, where they lost to the U.S. for the gold-medal match.
As they build around Luka Doncic, the Mavericks have refocused their attention on guards in free agency and added veterans Sterling Brown (Veteran) and Reggie Bullock (Veteran). Dallas also signed shooting guard Tim Hardaway Jr.
