The loss to Charlotte showed much of the same problems that have been plaguing the team all season. Immanuel Quickley received just 23 minutes in a game where he recorded 16 points and four assists on 50% shooting.
That included Quickley being benched down the stretch of the fourth quarter, which is where he scored 13 of his points.
On the other hand, head coach Tom Thibodeau continued with his strange tradition of playing veteran sharpshooter Alec Burks as New York’s starting point guard. Despite shooting 4-of-15, Burks was on the court for a whopping 41 minutes, including every minute of the second half.
A week later, Julius Randle made a couple of early step-back 3-pointers, but shot just 5-of-14 over the remaining 45 minutes of game time. He finished with a plus-minus of -4 as the team recorded only 23 assists.
While his individual numbers don’t match the 20-10-5 that Randle is averaging, Toppin’s efficiency and pace when asked to fill in as a starter have been consistent.
In five appearances with the first unit this year, Toppin’s averaging 13.4 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 3.2 assists per game on incredible 61-36-73 shooting splits.
His constant movement off the ball and bursts of speed in transition hasn’t only opened up his offensive arsenal but has allowed for his teammates to attack scrambling defenses.
In this clip, Bam Adebayo, Kyle Lowry, and Duncan Robinson are all worried about Toppin sprinting down the court after a rebound. Their focus is locked on him for a few moments, which allowed for RJ Barrett to trail the play before being rewarded with a wide-open transition three.
New York Knicks</a> fell to a record of 34-43 on the season. On Thursday, the Knicks became officially <a href=https://dailyknicks.com/2022/04/02/new-york-knicks-3-reasons-obi-toppin-start-next-season/"https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10031382-knicks-wizards-eliminated-from-playoff-contention-after-hawks-win-over-cavs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">eliminated from the play-in tournament</a> and will likely be welcoming in yet another lottery pick this summer.</p>
<p>The loss to Charlotte showed much of the same problems that have been plaguing the team all season. Immanuel Quickley received just 23 minutes in a game where he recorded 16 points and four assists on 50% shooting.</p>
<p>That included Quickley being benched down the stretch of the fourth quarter, which is where he scored 13 of his points.</p>
<p>On the other hand, head coach Tom Thibodeau continued with his strange tradition of playing veteran sharpshooter Alec Burks as New York’s starting point guard. Despite shooting 4-of-15, Burks was on the court for a whopping 41 minutes, including every minute of the second half.</p>
<p>While many of the issues remained the same, <a href=https://dailyknicks.com/2022/04/02/new-york-knicks-3-reasons-obi-toppin-start-next-season/"https://dailyknicks.com/2022/03/25/obi-toppin-final-stretch-determine-julius-randle-future-new-york-knicks/">there was one key difference from the week before when the Knicks and Hornets played in North Carolina – the starting power forward</a>.</p>
<h2>3 reasons why Obi Toppin should start for the New York Knicks next year</h2>
<h3>3: Performance as a starter this season</h3>
<p>Just over a week ago, New York toppled Charlotte by a score of 121-106. <a href=https://dailyknicks.com/2022/04/02/new-york-knicks-3-reasons-obi-toppin-start-next-season/"https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/t/toppiob01.html" ref="nofollow">Obi Toppin</a> started the game and finished with 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting, including a team-high plus-minus of +19. The Knicks recorded 30 assists on the night.</p>
<p>A week later, Julius Randle made a couple of early step-back 3-pointers, but shot just 5-of-14 over the remaining 45 minutes of game time. He finished with a plus-minus of -4 as the team recorded only 23 assists.</p>
<p>While his individual numbers don’t match the 20-10-5 that Randle is averaging, Toppin’s efficiency and pace when asked to fill in as a starter have been consistent.</p>
<p>In five appearances with the first unit this year, Toppin’s averaging 13.4 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 3.2 assists per game on incredible 61-36-73 shooting splits.</p>
<p>His constant movement off the ball and bursts of speed in transition hasn’t only opened up his offensive arsenal but has allowed for his teammates to attack scrambling defenses.</p>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Target practice 🎯 <a href=https://dailyknicks.com/2022/04/02/new-york-knicks-3-reasons-obi-toppin-start-next-season/"https://t.co/K0UX9RKF7J">pic.twitter.com/K0UX9RKF7J
<p>— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) <a href=https://dailyknicks.com/2022/04/02/new-york-knicks-3-reasons-obi-toppin-start-next-season/"https://twitter.com/nyknicks/status/1507513128753545220?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>March 26, 2022</a></p></blockquote>
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<p>In this clip, Bam Adebayo, Kyle Lowry, and Duncan Robinson are all worried about Toppin sprinting down the court after a rebound. Their focus is locked on him for a few moments, which allowed for RJ Barrett to trail the play before being rewarded with a wide-open transition three.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #007BC1" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://dailyknicks.com/2022/04/02/new-york-knicks-3-reasons-obi-toppin-start-next-season/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Reason 2 </a>
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<a href=https://dailyknicks.com/2022/04/02/new-york-knicks-3-reasons-obi-toppin-start-next-season/"https://dailyknicks.com/wp-content/uploads/imagn-images/2018/08/17122438.jpeg">
Barrett’s averaging 24.6 points, 7.0 rebounds, 3.2 assists, and 1.2 steals per game while shooting just over 42% from the field</a>.</p>
<p>While New York has a lot of young talent, it’s become abundantly clear that the three aforementioned players represent the future of the Knicks more than anyone else. It’s a great sign that they all play well together, but they need to spend more minutes on the floor at the same time.</p>
<p>The Barrett/Toppin/Quickley trio has only shared the court for 252 minutes this season. While that may seem like a lot, it’s important to remember that New York’s played a total of 3,696 minutes this year. That means that the trio of the future has been on the court for just 6.8% of the time.</p>
<p>A full season of those three getting lots of minutes together wouldn’t likely lead the team back to the fourth seed in the East, but the basketball product would be much more fun for fans to watch and lead to a higher win total than most would suspect.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #007BC1" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://dailyknicks.com/2022/04/02/new-york-knicks-3-reasons-obi-toppin-start-next-season/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Reason 1 </a>
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<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-125604" src=https://dailyknicks.com/2022/04/02/new-york-knicks-3-reasons-obi-toppin-start-next-season/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2134,w_3200/https%3A%2F%2Fdailyknicks.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2022%2F04%2F1386604865.jpeg" alt="New York Knicks, Dallas Mavericks, Jalen Brunson" width="3200" height="2134" srcset="https://dailyknicks.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2022/04/1386604865.jpeg 3200w, https://dailyknicks.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2022/04/1386604865-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><p class="wp-caption-text">Jalen Brunson, Dallas Mavericks. (Photo by Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images) – New York Knicks</p>
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<h3>1: Expected improvement with a legitimate point guard</h3>
<p>Perhaps the most impressive aspect of Toppin’s breakout sophomore campaign is that he’s taking major developmental strides without an experienced point guard.</p>
<p>Quickley has improved his passing but still averages just 3.2 assists per game, Derrick Rose has missed most of the year with injuries, and Randle leads the team in dimes but hardly ever shares the floor with Toppin. As a team, the Knicks rank dead last in the NBA in assists per game.</p>
<p>Given his propensity for off-ball movement and well-timed cuts to the basket, it makes sense that the former Dayton star would thrive alongside an elite passer. There’s a reason why Toppin performed much better after the New York-Rose trade.</p>
<div class="embed ">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Derrick to Obi a DIME <a href=https://dailyknicks.com/2022/04/02/new-york-knicks-3-reasons-obi-toppin-start-next-season/"https://t.co/BeavbNvopk">pic.twitter.com/BeavbNvopk
<p>— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) <a href=https://dailyknicks.com/2022/04/02/new-york-knicks-3-reasons-obi-toppin-start-next-season/"https://twitter.com/nyknicks/status/1449169195661418497?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>October 16, 2021</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src=https://dailyknicks.com/2022/04/02/new-york-knicks-3-reasons-obi-toppin-start-next-season/"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></div>
<p>While Rose’s age and health may prevent him from being a full-time starting point guard, one potential target would be Mavericks unrestricted free agent Jalen Brunson.</p>
<p>He’s averaging 4.9 assists per game this year despite playing with a ball-dominant superstar in Luka Doncic. In 17 games without Doncic, Brunson’s averaging 7.5 assists on a nightly basis.</p>
<p>It’s also worth mentioning that he’s represented by agent Sam Rose, the son of Knicks Team President Leon Rose.</p>
<p>Acquiring an excellent passer such as Brunson in a sign-and-trade scenario could truly unlock Toppin’s game to the point where he’d be a candidate for the Most Improved Player award.</p>
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<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="2FnjyF9thI"><p><a href=https://dailyknicks.com/2022/04/02/new-york-knicks-3-reasons-obi-toppin-start-next-season/"https://dailyknicks.com/2022/03/26/new-york-knicks-4-different-offseason-realities-fans-brace/">NY Knicks: 4 difficult offseason realities fans must brace for</a></p></blockquote>
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