Immanuel Quickley, a rookie for the New York Knicks, has shown a lot of promise, and I believe he deserves the starting spot over Elfrid Payton.
Quickley has made a name for himself early on in his young NBA career.
The Knicks recently played the Boston Celtics, and Quickley had his best outing to prove why he should be the starting point guard. Quickley finished with 17 points and 8 assists that game, while Payton ended with 9 points and 3 assists. This alone should demonstrate that Quickley has the advantage over Payton in regards to his recent performances.
I like how Quickley allows the offense to come to him and that he can control the floor at his own pace. When given the minutes, Quickley is either taking the shot or getting the assist out to one of his teammates.
One thing that stands out about Quickley’s game is his floater and how effective it is. Quickley can read the defense and knows when to attack the paint. He can drop in the floater, and he can kick it out to one of his teammates for an alley-oop or three-pointer. For example, when the Knicks played the Celtics, Quickley was driving to the basket, and instead of going for the floater, he threw the lob to Obi Toppin, which played out well. In the second quarter of that game, Quickley scored 11 points, with at least eight of them being floaters.
Kathy Willens/AP Photo
Another couple of things that stand out about Quickley’s game are his efficiency and his IQ. No pun intended with IQ being the initials to his name.
One major thing that Quickley has over Payton is the three-pointer. Quickley was a great three-pointer shooter in the two years that he played for Kentucky shooting nearly 40% from that range. Quickley has only shot 34% from the three-point line in the ten games he has played so far for the Knicks. Granted, he hasn’t taken that many of them. In time, when given the proper minutes and when Quickley attempts more three-pointers, the shot should fall more consistently.
Quickley has drawn inspiration from the tactics of players such as Trae Young and James Harden in which those two players can attempt a three-pointer while drawing the foul. This move has proven to be very successful for Quickley. This is a clear display of his high IQ and knowledge of the sport.
The offense feels more alive when Quickley is on the floor, and he can orchestrate an offense better than Payton.
Quickley is also a solid defender at a respectable NBA level and can even rack up steals from time to time.
Quickley is also a great free throw shooter that can help out the Knicks in close game situations in which they find themselves quite often. Someone like Quickley can close out a game with free throws if he was a part of those situations more often. Quickley currently shoots 95% from the free-throw line. In Kentucky, he shot close to 90% from the free-throw line. This proves he can stay as efficient as he did in college. Payton is an abysmal free-throw shooter, making 68% from the line this season, drastically less than the 95% that Quickley is shooting.
I understand why Payton is starting. He is a veteran, and Tom Thibodeau trusts him out there to run the offense. I’m not questioning Payton’s ability to run the offense. However, I feel like Quickley can do a better job and be more productive if given the starting spot.
Another thing is that Payton has no perimeter shot and is only really capable of driving to the basket. The offense often becomes stagnant with Payton running the point. This is especially present towards the end of the games when the ball has to go through Julius Randle, the Knicks’ leading scorer.
Quickley played 14 minutes in the Knicks’ last game against the Orlando Magic, finishing with 11 points and 2 assists. In the Celtics game, he played 21 minutes and ended with 17 points and 8 assists. Thus, proving the idea that if given the right amount of minutes, Quickley can produce.
It’s only a matter of time before Thibodeau gives Quickley the chance to prove himself. Thibodeau probably wants to see Quickley string up some more consistently good games before he allows Immanuel Quickley to start.
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