[ad_1]
The New York Knicks took part in the NBA Draft to make savvy selections. They left the night winning the jackpot, selecting Dayton’s great man Obi Toppin with the eighth overall pick.
Obi Toppin is a franchise scorer
Toppin likely fell to eight due to his potential match with all seven teams ahead of the Knicks and defensive shots on his game. Should it have been enough for him to fall so far? This shouldn’t have; the Knicks have a player to build in the Ossining native.
The Dayton product is a special player. Standing at 6-foot-9, he’s a jack-of-all-trades scorer. Toppin stretches the ground with his stable outside shot, performs well in the post, finishes inside with ease, and has handles. Toppin is a human highlight reel. He pulls off absurd dunks in both quick cut and half court and does so with remarkable style, be it 360s, tomahawks, or mid-leg finishes.
Last season, Toppin averaged 20.0 points per game while shooting 39.0% from beyond the arc. One of the Knicks’ most pressing issues is isolation and scoring. Toppin could very well be head coach Tom Thibodeau’s main source of attack. Last season, the Knicks were 27th in the NBA in three-point shooting percentage (33.7%) and 29th in points per game (105.8). Toppin improves them in these two categories.
His multidimensional offensive play will grab the bulk of the defensive attention of opposing teams and distract from RJ Barrett, who will likely be more of an isolation scorer in his second season. In the back-to-back drafts, the Knicks had a player who wanted to play for them and someone who will be a much needed source of offense.
Toppin is 22, which is considered old for one of the top 10 picks. On the other hand, he has matured physically, has huge shoulders that give him inner power, and he has gradually improved with physical growth. If New York had taken on a 19-year-old, this player probably would have had to build muscle, grow in his body, and it could have taken a few years for him to become a top scorer.
Toppin can hit the ground running in the Big Apple.
Immanuel Quickley and Myles Powell bring the shot, scoring
President Leon Rose woke up Wednesday with picks eight, 27, and 38. Shortly after rolling out of bed, he sent 27 and 38 to the Utah Jazz for 23. Later that day he sent 23. to the Minnesota Timberwolves for 25 and 33. New York then sent 33 to the Los Angeles Clippers for a second-round pick in 2023. At age 25, they took Kentucky guard Immanuel Quickley, who ticks some boxes.
During his two years at Lexington, Quickley was an excellent outside shooter and top scorer for head coach John Calipari. Last season, he averaged 16.1 points per game, a team-high, while shooting 42.8% from beyond the arc and 92.3% from the charity strip. The Knicks struggled to space the floor last season, and Quickley will help them in that regard.
He will come off the bench to stretch the floor and, in time, could become a shrewd sixth man. The Knicks signed four-year-old Seton Hall Myles Powell as an undrafted free agent on Thursday. Sure, he’s been passed 60 times, but it’s hard to understand how that happened.
Powell was arguably the best player in the Big East Conference over the past two seasons; He scores. In each of his last two seasons at Seton Hall, Powell averaged over 21 points per game, took and produced clutch shots with frequency and was one of the nation’s top scorers. Like Quickley, Powell is likely a reserve if he’s on the roster. He can come out of the bench as a combo guard, increasing the attack of the second unit. They have to put together their list from a scoring perspective.
These guards give the Knicks the much needed shots and points.
Knicks need to be meticulous in free agency
Is Toppin okay with the Knicks? He’s not, especially since a Thibodeau attack never featured a great man with Toppin’s skills. So why are you taking her and not thinking twice? He is an extraordinary talent and too captivating to pass at eight years old. He has star potential and was a justifiable number one choice; you make it work. Plus, his arrival could mean Thibodeau’s philosophies change during his third head coach gig.
Quickley is more likely than Powell to be on the Knicks’ roster. Still, if they are both in attendance for the 2020-21 NBA season, they will come off the bench and provide a variety of scores. Rose, Thibodeau and their friends need to be careful when it comes to free agency, where they’ll have around $ 35 million in ceiling space.
They have two young offensive mainstays (Barrett and Toppin), a defensive backbone and alley performer (Mitchell Robinson), a couple of guards looking for direction (Frank Ntilikina and Dennis Smith Jr.), new hires in backcourt (Quickley and Powell), a capable young striker (Kevin Knox) and a veteran frontline scorer (Julius Randle). These pieces are a strange puzzle, but they can be changed.
The Knicks need to add more shooting and defense on the outside. They have a few young goal scorers to lean on and depth of the backcourt. Randle could potentially be on the move given the resources that were allocated to the backend of their starting lineup. Such a deal is not forfeited, however, as he owes around $ 21 million this season and only a handful of teams have the cap to absorb his salary. Could New York move Randle and some future picks in a package for Houston Rockets point guard Russell Westbrook in the scenario where the latter is desperate?
Maybe they bring in a veteran backcourt scorer like Brandon Knight or DJ Augustin to show the puppies the tricks of the trade? They could extend an offer sheet to Denzel Valentine; Juan Hernangomez and / or Harry Giles would provide the bench scoring; big man Meyers Leonard would add away shooting. Any move they make must be accompanied by foresight of how it affects Barrett and Toppin offensively; they are the present and the future.
The New York Knicks had a phenomenal NBA draft. Now they must be inspired by it.
[ad_2]
Source link