With Julius Randle out for a second consecutive game on Wednesday in Charlotte due to a quad injury, forward Obi Toppin got another start for the Knicks and enjoyed perhaps his best game of the season. Toppin put up 18 points, 11 rebounds, and six assists on 8-of-11 shooting in 40 minutes, helping to lead the club to a 15-point win over the Hornets.
Toppin has made some strides in his second NBA season, but the former lottery pick has still had a fairly limited role, averaging 15.3 MPG in 63 games. However, head coach Tom Thibodeau liked what he saw from the 24-year-old on Wednesday.
“He made a number of good plays,” Thibodeau said, per Steve Popper of Newsday. “Running the floor, moving it side to side. Shot when he was open, drove it, made the extra pass. He had a great floor game and I think that helped us a ton.”
Here’s more on the Knicks:
- Examining the Knicks’ options to address the point guard spot this offseason, Marc Berman of The New York Post makes a case for Tyus Jones as a potential target and suggests that a sign-and-trade deal with the Mavericks involving Jalen Brunson and Mitchell Robinson “isn’t far-fetched.”
- Berman also reports that a couple members of the Knicks’ front office flew to Europe in February to visit with Rokas Jokubaitis, a draft-and-stash Lithuanian point guard who was selected 34th overall in the 2021 draft. The Knicks control Jokubaitis’ NBA rights and could explore bringing him stateside for the 2022/23 season.
- In a separate story for The New York Post, Berman explains why the Knicks giving RJ Barrett a maximum-salary rookie scale extension this offseason shouldn’t be a lock, observing that the forward’s scoring efficiency has dipped this season. “A max extension is a tough call because physically he is gifted and has the capability of being extremely good on the defensive end,” one NBA coach said of Barrett. “The two things that matter most now is who is he playing with and his attitude towards making the right play. But if your volume shooter isn’t efficient, it doesn’t bode well for the team as a whole.”
- Mike Vaccaro of The New York Post contends that there are no quick fixes for the Knicks and suggests the team still faces a “profound rebuild” in order to become a contender.
The Mavs like Mitchell Robinson, but there is zero chance they would cough up Brunson for him. The 3 headed monster of Luka, Dinwiddie and Brunson to create offense along with spot up shooters has worked wonders. Dwight Powell has also taken his game up a level. If Mavs are struggling to re-sign Brunson this offseason, they would trade Hardaway and attack draft picks to a under the cap team (like OKC) to free up cash before they let Jalen walk. Put it this way: Brunson isn’t going anywhere.
You’re spot on. Can’t imagine how good the Mavs would be with both Hardaway & Brunson playing alongside Dinwiddie. Wouldn’t be a championship team, but they’d have a crazy deep lineup that could make some serious noise.
So, you’d want primarily a four guard lineup of Luka, Dinwiddie, Brunson, and Hardaway Jr.??
Even with Powell as the fifth member of that grouping, for all their offensive prowess, I’m thinking they could really struggle defensively and especially on the boards.
They will be paying a top 5 tax bill in the history of the NBA w a 20 mill ext for Brunson next year.
If they keep Dins he might not be able to produce 20 mill worth of value
I like the idea of Det taking him in under cap for just some future draft pick assets. What happens to Dallas this postseason should tell us a lot
Mavs 13-5 with Dins
A Mitchell Robinson for Brunson trade isn’t far-fetched … if we’re including like 3 picks with Mitch.
Pretty sure Brunson will be a very high priority for Dallas – whereas acquiring a plodding big like Mitch will not be (especially with the emergence of Powell).
Knicks have had an awful lot of garbage “speculation” around their potential offseason of late.
Toppin isn’t flat out terrible like, say, Frank and Knox of past NY lottery lore. But it’s still not entirely clear where he fits in a modern NBA rotation.
That’s a little bit of an issue given his age (24). Shooting 24% of 1.8 3fga basically means he almost has to play center. But without major improvements in both rim protection and rebounding I’m not sure he’s palatable there.
Right now he’s a slashing 4, who can’t shoot, doesn’t make plays for others, is a ho-hum rebounder, and can’t really protect the rim. That’s not a great return for a top 10 pick.
You can fit Toppin easily in a rotation as a 4 on a contender. It’s all about pairings, and each player complimenting eachother’s weaknesses…
If he’s alongside a guy like Al Horford, Embiid, KAT, or any other versatile inside and out big, and he’s paired with outside shooters, Toppin could make a killing off pick n rolls, running lanes in transition, slashing, etc.
IDK, I think a front line of KAT and Obi would be disaster defensively.
Could he be a poor man’s Tobias next to Embiid at some point? Possibly. But I’m not sure how much of a compliment that is.
You are so wrong! Once Obi does something wrong on the court Thibs takes him out not allowing him to get a Rythm going. He barely gets minutes to do what he does well. That last game should show you what he can do if he’s a starter and plays 30 plus minutes per game.
As much as I hate to agree with Berman … he’s not *entirely* off-base on RJ.
A 13.9 PER, 51% true shooting, -1.3 BPM, 14.5% assist% on 27% usage … these aren’t the greatest forward indicators for a guy you’d hope could be a #1 option in the league.
Having said that, RJ is still 3 years younger than Obi, despite being in the league a year longer, and there are certain eye test indicators that tell you this guy has the tools to be an All Star player. He’s just only put them together in brief spurts to date.
I would still like to see RJ play with an extended reprieve from Randle. I think JR has been a toxic element in this year’s team offensively.
Randle has just been a death nail to the Knicks offensive flow this year. He continues to make it very difficult for any player to maintain an offensive rhythm with his constant long periods of isolation offense and also remaining stagnant even without the ball…
If the Knicks get a true PG, and they get rid of Randle, or they move him to the 2nd unit, I think you will INSTANTLY see an improvement from this team..
Aren’t they already well into a profound rebuild?
Knicks rebuidling since 1999, their fans just dont know it
Brunson, like Mitch, is a UFA. So, where he winds up next year starts (and in many ways ends) with where he wants to go. S&T transactions are initiated by the player, not the team. Most likely, DAL will try to reup him before the FA period starts, and that usually ends it as long as they are willing to pay in line with the market. As far as the NYK are concerned, I’d pass on him at the 20 mm level.
There is no reason to do an early extension with Barrett at max level. This isn’t a Randle (rising UFA) situation, where he might leave or the price may go up if they wait. I have no problem paying max if that’s market after next season. But an early extension has to be at a discount. Which, btw, I wouldn’t necessarily want him to sign.
That Vaccaro piece is all hot air, but the Knicks do need to go into a multi-year tank and accrue draft capital rebuild. They haven’t used their cap well, and their coach doesn’t believe in constructive tanking (playing young players to improve them and increase their value at the expense of trying to win every game). They should have been heavy sellers at the deadline, but completely botched that. Ultimately, they’ll make a few minor moves to try to bandaid the situation and languish in that 6-12 range in the east until Thibs and probably Rose are gone, then they’ll anoint their next managerial savior who will also fail. Going to keep failing until Dolan is gone.
Not much to disagree with here, only slight “hope”/wishful thinking is that the Rangers aren’t exactly a dumpster fire right now. Dolan cleaned house, put hockey people in place, and got out of their way. That’s supposedly what the goal was with the Knicks too, but Rose & Co. are just looking to be shaky at best rn.
People will hate it, but I both agree with you & the Sam Hinkie approach. It’s no coincidence that Hinkie is currently heading up an investment capital firm right now. His “The process” approach always screamed “startup approach” to me. That’s how it’s done. Attempt, gauge, adjust, attempt, gauge, adjust, rinse, repeat, until you maneuver to something with product-market-fit (and is a high revenue operation and/or sustainable)
Literally how every major & successful startup of the past 15+ years operated before they became household names. Knicks should & need to be Ubercab, Peekaboo, Facemash, a digital bookstore…before becoming Uber, Snapchat, Facebook, or Amazon.
That was the Hinkie approach to the 6ers and it netted them Embiid & Simmons (who was obviously flipped for Harden). The point is, “the process” led to assets that allow the 6ers to REALISTICALLY think “deep playoff run” and make moves in support of that goal.
Knicks keep trying to sell paperbacks curbside while telling folks they’re gonna be the next amazon..
“The Process” is still under review, IMO. Philadelphia endured about a half decade of basically non-basketball basketball teams and still have no Finals appearances to show for it. Let’s see if they can squeeze a ring out of Harden/Embiid.
Having said that, the Knicks have the benefit of already not being good. So discarding Randle, Fournier, et al isn’t going to coincide with some gigantic dip in production—they’re already a lottery team! Just give the young guys they do have some run and get another roll of the die.
As far as accumulating draft capital, sure that’s great. But IDK if anyone on this roster is getting them a bunch of picks.
I think we see it kinda diff. I don’t view “The Process” as a guarantee of winning rings. I see it more as a process (best word for it, lol) of positioning the organization to find a deserving “franchise player” to build around and continually take shots at a deep playoff run. The 76ers followed a half decade of “non-basketball basketball teams” with 4 years of playoff appearances, this year will be #5. Knicks have one in that timeframe, and gonna miss out this year & reset the counter.
And like you said, this roster doesn’t have any player who is going to net a huge return in picks, but teams who recently prioritized “growth” over meaningless wins had combos of:
– Embiid/Simmons*
– JJJ/Ja
– Cade/whoever they select this year
– Garland/Mobley
all picked within that same half decade, and those are players who will either be a part of a competitive core or can be moved for a decent return. Gotta commit to it tho. We see teams constantly positioning themselves for one of the 52.1 – 45.1% chance at a top-4 pick. “The Process” is about increasing chances of landing there. Nothing is guaranteed obviously, but it makes no sense to lock in less ping-pong balls if you know your roster is not close to perennial contention.
I view all of that in the same light as Uber turning its first profit in the last quarter of 2021 – 11 years after starting, and Netflix announcing they “no longer need to borrow money” last year…22 years after they started ops. You either commit to growth, then profits or you try to shortcut it and flame out hard.
I don’t think we necessarily disagree — I mean it all comes back to what’s “middling” and what’s “contending” and what are the values of each.
Each franchise values each differently. While it’s true Philly has an actual shot this year, whereas, say, Toronto doesn’t—was it worth it for Philly to be horrendous for 5 years for the difference? Maybe. But I suppose Toronto could probably say, “Well, we never tanked AND we got a ring, even if it was only a one year thing.”
But you can cherry pick scenarios on either side. Ultimately I guess it’s a judgment call for each team to make.
For NY, I would say something resembling The Process but maybe not quite as extreme as The Process would probably be the best move right now.