Immanuel Quickley was a revelation this season for the Knicks. Quickley’s rise covered the slow start to the season with the Obi Toppin lottery.
In his rookie season, Toppin has so far experienced far more lows than highs. After playing in the season opener against the Indiana Pacers, he missed 10 games due to a strained right calf. Since his return, Toppin has averaged 4.6 points, 2.6 rebounds and 0.7 assists in 12 games.
The calf injury shifted Toppin’s role in the Knicks pecking order. He averaged 25.2 minutes in four preseason games and saw 24 minutes of action in the regular season opener. Toppin took 12 hits in that match. Since then he has not yet reached that number of shooting attempts or 20 minutes of play in any match.
The Knicks should look to offer Toppin more pick-and-roll opportunities. The Dayton product is scoring 1.18 points per possession like the roll man. His world-class athleticism is astounding, and the Knicks should do a better job of exploiting this so that Toppin can attack by running on the edge.
In the grand scheme of things, Toppin’s struggles are another possible alarm for New York’s inability to draft well at the lottery. Ntilikina, Dennis Smith Jr. and Kevin Knox lottery predictions are currently out of rotation. The choice of 2019 RJ Barrett is starting and Toppin had a difficult start.
Two of their top three prospects at the moment are Robinson and Quickley. Robinson was picked up early in the second round of the draft and Quickley was selected in 25th place in the first round after being screened as a mid-to-late round two selection.
One thing is to lose on a lottery pick or two, but New York has put together a collection of disappointing lottery withdrawals.