Objectively speaking, rookie guard Immanuel Quickley looked like a safe bet to be a mere rotation player in head coach Tom Thibodeau's rotation this season. And then they began playing the games, and a funny thing happened: Quickley became an ambush building block for the New York Knicks.
In a couple draft day trades involving their later selections, New York acquired the 25th pick in the NBA Draft and used it on the 2019-20 SEC Player of the Year (Immanuel Quickley). The Kentucky product has been a complete steal.
Across just 18.5 minutes per contest, Immanuel Quickley is averaging 11.6 points per game while shooting 37.9 percent from beyond the arc and 95.2 percent from the charity stripe. That is efficiency at its finest.
Immanuel Quickley does a little bit of everything. He sticks outside jump shots at a plausible rate given his long-ranging shooting form, takes what the defense gives him, has a knack for drawing fouls, is a savvy passer, a well-rounded defender, and rarely turns the ball over.
That's a lot, and Immanuel Quickley is at least competent in all of those areas.
He plays like a seasoned veteran and is a respectable force on both ends of the floor. Every time he enters the game it's as if he's playing with a chip on his shoulder. Perhaps part of that comes from the narrative that surrounded his drafting?
Immanuel Quickley, like two-thirds of the Knicks roster, fell under the category of being either a Creative Artists Agency (CAA) client (team president Leon Rose recently administered a branch of the agency) or having ties to the University of Kentucky.
For Immanuel Quickley, it was the latter given that he was coached by now-Knicks assistant Kenny Payne in his two seasons at Kentucky. Regardless of the merit behind that connection, Quickley has played through his selection (25).
In this case, the sticky narrative surrounding the team's front office doesn't matter. They've found and are developing a player that could become a rotation mainstay.
Immanuel Quickley doesn't have a set position. He's more of a combo guard than a true one or two guard. He plays well off the ball and has the toolset to run an offense. Coming off the bench, he's a leading catalyst for the second unit. That said, he could surely take the point guard reigns if injuries present themselves.
Across the last week Immanuel Quickley has put forth two tremendous offensive performances. On Friday night he dropped 25 points in 25 minutes en route to a 21-point Knicks victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers. Last Sunday he dropped 31 points in 24 minutes on the road against the Portland Trail Blazers, helping the Knicks cut a 25-point lead to three, albeit the team's comeback attempt came up short.
Thibodeau continues to roll with Elfrid Payton as his starting point guard with Quickley one of the first players off the bench. With Payton, a veteran, playing on an expiring contract and Immanuel Quickley still fresh on the scene, having the rookie continue to flourish off the bench while Payton helps the starting five win games is the safe play. At 9-11, New York is firmly in the playoff hunt in the Eastern Conference.
Quickley's play has also mitigated fellow rookie Obi Toppin's struggles, which are due to an early calf injury that sidelined him for 10 games and Julius Randle's All-Star-caliber season keeping Toppin on the bench. Someone with Immanuel Quickley's fundamentals can only grow more productive with minutes and age. There's no point in jumping the gun.
Some questioned whether the Knicks should've taken Iowa State guard Tyrese Haliburton over Toppin with the eighth pick in the draft. While it's fair to question draft selections, Immanuel Quickley has made the Knicks' decision to pass on a point guard at eight irrelevant. He's showing promise, and the Knicks can look to get Toppin on the right path as the season progresses. A few years from now they could look back on their 2020 draft class as a bang-for-the-buck player collection.
There's also the element of Immanuel Quickley adding to the Knicks' young core. RJ Barrett has been more productive and impactful offensively this season while center Mitchell Robinson holds his own as the starting center and Kevin Knox shoots an impressive 39.1 percent from beyond the arc.
Quickley gives the Knicks a young guard to be enthused by, what the organization has desperately needed to complement its preexisting youngsters. In time, he can run the show, find his teammates in their hotspots, and be a player teams have to game-plan for.
With the likes of Barrett, Quickley, Robinson, Toppin, and Knox present, Thibodeau has something brewing in his rotation. There's a visible rapport among this roster, and they're competing and overcoming the likes of frequent playoff participants. The rookie guard is a vital reason for this play.
One could argue that Immanuel Quickley is the best thing the Knicks have going for them outside of Barrett. He has been that good.
The Knicks found a strikingly bright hidden gem in Immanuel Quickley.
Follow Us
Subscribe