Frank Ntilikina, with his newly sculpted body, believes he has more versatility to guard different positions.
The Knicks are officially listing Ntilikina at 6-foot-6 — up from 6-foot-5 as a rookie last season.
They may want to add a position for Ntilikina, too: forward.
“I’ve been working a lot this summer on my body. I grew too,’’ Ntilikina said at Monday’s media day. “So I see my body is changing. It’s exciting to play a different position. Coach [David] Fizdale is really not having straight positions. It will be exciting that I will be able to go out at stronger guards and small forwards. So, I’m just going to keep working on that.”
Fizdale is looking at Ntilikina as a lot more than just a point guard in a position-less offense. The 20-year-old has put on nearly 15 pounds of muscle and is listed at 200 pounds (up from 190).
Last week, Fizdale referred to Ntilikina defending the 4 (power forward). Ntilikina’s 7-foot wingspan gives him such potential flexibility. Fizdale has mentioned playing all three of his point guards — Ntilikina, Trey Burke and Emmanuel Mudiay — in some lineups together.
“I feel great about it,’’ Ntilikina said. “I’ve seen last year a couple of switches defensively where I’ve been guarding a big man. I can deny them to score in the post. As a competitive player and a defensive player, I would never say, ‘No, I can’t guard him.’ ”
Whether Ntilikina turns the corner on offense remains to be seen. His passiveness on that end tarnished his rookie year and hurt his scoring average (5.9 points per game). He knows more is expected of a No. 8 pick in the draft.
“To take the next step, I need to be focusing on having a better season than last year,’’ Ntilikina said. “I think I’ve been working a lot this summer and just to allow myself to go out there with confidence.’’
Fizdale has said Ntilikina should be more in attack mode but also not change from who he is — a playmaker first. Ntilikina declined open shots last season to move the ball.
“If I’m open, I’ll take the shot,’’ Ntilikina said. “I think that’s the way it was last year, the problem was thinking too much on the court, which brought my confidence down. As soon as [Fizdale] came to me, the first talk we had was about this and him letting me play.’’
Ntilikina was a late invite for the French national team’s two-game World Cup qualifier in September. He declined.
“I would say I think it was the best decision for me to prepare with this team for the season, being here with the new coaching staff and some new teammates,’’ he said.
Veteran shooting guard Courtney Lee could have a tough time getting minutes. He said Fizdale has told everyone to “check our egos at the door.’’
The Knicks have shopped Lee this offseason, and The Post reported Lee was amenable to going to a contender.
“It was a source that put that out without speaking with me,” Lee said. “I’m not sure where that came from. Going forward, I’m a Knick, I’m excited to be here I look forward to training camp and I’m excited to be with this group.’’
Potential starting point guard Trey Burke on running the sand dunes in Palm Springs, Calif., this offseason: “I wanted to take my athleticism to another level, speed and quickness to another level. I expect to be playing a lot of minutes this year, so conditioning was huge for me before I even got on the court to work on skill stuff. The summer was huge for me.”
No official announcement on Joakim Noah’s impending waiver via the stretch provision despite a report it would be official before media day.
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