Obi Toppin certainly had quite a bit of buzz around his name up until the draft and had the resume to back it up, all the signs were leading to a first day of NBA departure.
So when Knick fans heard his name being called, we all rejoiced, I was the first one ready to pack Julius Randle and ship him. The thought that Julius Randle was Obi Toppin’s mentor made me sick, they definitely can’t play together on the same team. Well, I, along with all the Knick fans, was wrong about Randle and Obi Toppin.
Randle is playing like an All-Star and Toppin is not getting everyone’s expected playtime. However, I truly believe this is a great situation for Toppin – there have been a lot of NBA prospects who have never been successful and end up bounced out of the league, many of which are the Knicks, sigh. So having Toppin sitting behind an All-Star like Randle isn’t the worst of it. It will allow Toppin to adjust to the NBA life and have a mentor to guide him through it.