The success of the New York Knicks this season has been thanks in large part to the tremendous play of All-Star forward Julius Randle. As it turns out, however, Randle's rise to fame has led to the loss of opportunities for two of New York's young studs in Frank Ntilikina and Kevin Knox.

Ntilikina and Knox were the Knicks' back-to-back lottery picks in 2017 and 2018, respectively, but right now, they're nothing more than backup players in coach Tom Thibodeau's rotation.

Ntilikina has been in and out of the lineup for the Knicks, with the former eighth overall pick accumulating 10 DNP's since March 27. The last time he took the floor for New York was on April 21st against the Atlanta Hawks wherein he played for literally just two seconds.

Knox, the Knicks' ninth overall pick in 2018, has been in a similar situation. The 6-foot-7 forward has had more DNP's (14) in March and April than the games he's actually played in (13). It's not as if he's contributing to the team when he's on the court too, with averages of just 2.5 points and 0.9 rebounds in 5.6 minutes per game.

When asked about Knox's contributions to the squad, however, coach Thibs had nothing but good things to say about the 21-year-old's work ethic:

“He comes in multiple times every day – comes in early, comes back at night, positive attitude,” Thibodeau said of Knox, via Marc Berman of the New York Post. “His practices contribute to the team. A very important part of the team. Just stay ready.”

It's great that coach Thibs thinks so highly of Knox, but the lack of playing time is something that you cannot ignore. Both Ntikilina and Knox still possess a ton of potential, but it looks like opportunities will come far and few in between in New York.