In this year’s NBA draft, the Knicks once again struck out in the lottery and were unable to get in the top five. However, Knicks fans rejoiced when they selected the Obi Toppin with their eighth overall draft pick, who happens to be from Brooklyn.
This situation seems to be taken right out of a movie, but things have not been perfect so far for the former Naismith College player of the year. Toppin has shown plenty of flashes this year attacking the rim but has struggled shooting the ball. On the season, Toppin is shooting an abysmal 28.6% from three-point range. However, it will be necessary for him to keep firing away and gain the confidence to be able to regularly make these shots to keep the defense honest.
Why I don’t think that Knicks fans should hit the panic button yet on their young big man is because, in the next couple of weeks, he will see more playing time with the recent injury to Mitchell Robinson. He is only averaging twelve minutes a game currently, but it is clear that he gives it his all whenever he is on the court.
He has gotten high praise from his new veteran teammate Derrick Rose who described Obi as “Always being in the right spot on the floor.” You can tell how smart Obi is just by watching his movement on the court. He understands defenses and knows to cut to the basket when his man does not have eyes on him.
In college at Dayton, Toppin was physically superior to most of the competition that he faced in the Atlantic Ten, but that did not mean that he was reliant on his physical tools to dominate games. He was great at dealing with the double and triple teams that got sent at him and was always looking to set up his teammates. Having no NCAA tournament last year was a huge shame for so many reasons, but missing out on watching Obi play in big-time games and prove himself would have been special.
Tom Thibodeau is always reluctant to throw rookies into the rotation too early, and would rather have them work their way up to playing big-time minutes. That is definitely the approach he is taking with Toppin and Quickley, who could both be putting up better numbers with more minutes, but you can’t blame Thibodeau for not wanting to tinker with the rotations too much as the Knicks are currently in 6th place in the east.
I think that Obi’s best chance to see a serious increase in minutes is to impress in his limited time on the court and prove that he should be taking some of Nerlens Noel’s minutes in crunch time. What Obi gives up in a few inches of height to Noel, he more than makes up with his freakish athleticism and above-the-rim ability. Toppin has also shown a great motor on both ends of the court, and his teammates love him for his insane dunks and plays that bring energy to the team.
One of the most exciting lineups that Thibodeau puts out on the court is when he plays Immanuel Quickley and Obi Toppin at the same time. Quickley’s probing in and around the lane is the perfect match to Toppin’s ability to catch any lob with his long arms and insane vertical.
The Knicks have drafted talented guys in the past few years like Kevin Knox and Frank Ntilikina who have both showed signs of competence, but have never taken the next step. They never got the consistent minutes to accel and that is what is worrisome about Toppin. I know that it is a new coaching staff, but Toppin won’t get better unless he gets time to work out the kinks on the court in real game situations.
Julius Randle is a great mentor in terms of playstyle for Toppin to look at. Randle has put on some serious muscle in the past few years and filled out his frame very nicely and is now able to dominate opponents in the post. Toppin is by no means skinny, but if he wants to go back to being as dominant in the post as he was against the other teams in the Atlantic Ten, he will have to put on some weight.
In these next couple of weeks with Robinson’s absence is where Toppin will have to impress the coaching staff and his teammates to make sure he doesn’t get forgotten when Thibodeau gets to putting together his late-season rotations.
I think there is a world where Toppin doesn’t get much more playing time this year and still carves out a successful career on the Knicks. But that is not the most likely option as Knicks fans have seen firsthand with guys like Kevin Knox and Frank, that if they don’t have it right away, the chance of them putting it all together is very low. The Knicks take on the banged-up Magic tomorrow night, and with the absence of Aaron Gordon for Orlando, this could be Toppin’s time to make a name for himself within the organization.
