5. Immanuel Quickley, New York Knicks

Season stats: 12.6 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 2.8 apg
Since last Ladder: 18.0 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 3.5 apg
Last Ladder’s rung: 6

Quickley already is giving Knicks fans something that Frank Ntilikina and Kevin Knox rarely did as rookies, and that’s some reason for hope and excitement. Those two recent lottery picks became part of the woebegone culture that predated them in New York. Quickley is a source of optimism for his scoring, his ability to play point guard and his court smarts so far. The No. 25 pick is averaging 23.0 minutes on 18.4 shots per 36 minutes and moving up the Ladder weekly, while making squirm scouts who projected him as strictly a second-rounder.

The bold is a little amazing in hindsight playing for such a big program. He was one of the highest ranked college players, good physical profile with at 6'3 with a 6'9 wingspan and shoot the 3 really really well.

TPercy wrote:Anthony Edwards is butt cheeks. He’s a streaky poor decision maker who hasn’t excelled at anything this season outside of highlight dunks. Not to mention nobody on that Minny team plays NBA level defense( apart from Reid) yet because of his ppg he somehow top 5. RJ Barrett crucified for that type of nonsense but I can bet my salary he’ll finesse his way into all rookie.

Anyway I’m glad IQ is getting respect on his name and I pray that he stays healthy. He’ll have his share of rough patches but as long as we continue to back him and he gets his down we’ll be straight.

Spot on. Anthony Edwards stats same as RJ's during his first year. I'd rather have RJ any day of the week

martin wrote:

TPercy wrote:Anthony Edwards is butt cheeks. He’s a streaky poor decision maker who hasn’t excelled at anything this season outside of highlight dunks. Not to mention nobody on that Minny team plays NBA level defense( apart from Reid) yet because of his ppg he somehow top 5. RJ Barrett crucified for that type of nonsense but I can bet my salary he’ll finesse his way into all rookie.

Anyway I’m glad IQ is getting respect on his name and I pray that he stays healthy. He’ll have his share of rough patches but as long as we continue to back him and he gets his down we’ll be straight.

Spot on. Anthony Edwards stats same as RJ's during his first year. I'd rather have RJ any day of the week

fishmike wrote:

martin wrote:

TPercy wrote:Anthony Edwards is butt cheeks. He’s a streaky poor decision maker who hasn’t excelled at anything this season outside of highlight dunks. Not to mention nobody on that Minny team plays NBA level defense( apart from Reid) yet because of his ppg he somehow top 5. RJ Barrett crucified for that type of nonsense but I can bet my salary he’ll finesse his way into all rookie.

Anyway I’m glad IQ is getting respect on his name and I pray that he stays healthy. He’ll have his share of rough patches but as long as we continue to back him and he gets his down we’ll be straight.

Spot on. Anthony Edwards stats same as RJ's during his first year. I'd rather have RJ any day of the week

if we won Ball/Wiseman would have been fine. I wanted no part of Edwards. So much stuff about him not loving basketball, being a knucklehead, loafing on the court, etc

knicks1248 wrote:

StarksEwing1 wrote:Look guys I’m very happy with IQ. In fact I loved the pick when many knock fans were scratching their heads when it was announced. But let’s give it some time first. Same thing applies to Obi. I see many claiming him a bust or say we screwed up not getting Halliburton but kid needs time especially after missing a bunch of games. Obviously I hope the great things continue for IQ and Obi finds his groove but still Too early to Make a determination one way or another

Im sorry dude, it isn't that he looks like a bust (imo) it looks like he doesn't fit in this offense.

Remember when I said Fit is always better that Talent, well we are now seeing that play out now, we have to reinvent his game into a perimeter player at the age of 22.

Or he continues to develop his strength and ball handling and we get some competent PGs?

wargames wrote:Only two guys who I see doing better than Quickley is Haliburton and Lamelo. He’s playing like the 5th best rookie.

Long-term i would only rather have Ball than Quickley.

Knixkik wrote:

fishmike wrote:

martin wrote:

TPercy wrote:Anthony Edwards is butt cheeks. He’s a streaky poor decision maker who hasn’t excelled at anything this season outside of highlight dunks. Not to mention nobody on that Minny team plays NBA level defense( apart from Reid) yet because of his ppg he somehow top 5. RJ Barrett crucified for that type of nonsense but I can bet my salary he’ll finesse his way into all rookie.

Anyway I’m glad IQ is getting respect on his name and I pray that he stays healthy. He’ll have his share of rough patches but as long as we continue to back him and he gets his down we’ll be straight.

Spot on. Anthony Edwards stats same as RJ's during his first year. I'd rather have RJ any day of the week

if we won Ball/Wiseman would have been fine. I wanted no part of Edwards. So much stuff about him not loving basketball, being a knucklehead, loafing on the court, etc

Agreed. Edwards is loaded with red flags.

Barring Injury, Wiseman was the guy I thought would rule this draft.

My guess is Edward’s will be clear top dog. He’s very quick off the floor. Very coordinated gets his shot off quickly.

All that said incredibly happy w IQ for so many reasons including the great attitude he brings

Rookie wrote:

StarksEwing1 wrote:Look guys I’m very happy with IQ. In fact I loved the pick when many knock fans were scratching their heads when it was announced. But let’s give it some time first. Same thing applies to Obi. I see many claiming him a bust or say we screwed up not getting Halliburton but kid needs time especially after missing a bunch of games. Obviously I hope the great things continue for IQ and Obi finds his groove but still Too early to Make a determination one way or another

It’s baffling how he turns 23 next month and is not physically ready for the NBA. What the heck has he been doing to prepare? At this rate I would expect him to see limited minutes until next season. How is it even possible that he is this physically weak?

Some players were in better shape than others. Maybe obi and others in this past draft were cautious in preseason/post shutdown workouts. Don’t want to blow out a knee weeks leading up to draft which was right before Thanksgiving this year. could be why other rookies are not “sharp”.
OBI has played 13 games. We are already labeling him and projecting hm and others? Perhaps some players would have acclimated better anyway. Can’t say why IQ is so much better out of the gate and yes its a damn good thing. He is playing against mostly vets. Maybe the good lord has touched him for early greatness.
Maybe OBI, the national player of the year and 22 years old thought the better of not risking a bad injury and falling steep.
Halliburton game was projected to be a easy transition. He was seen as a “safe pick” and projected to be top 5. Maybe some see his ceiling as limited longer term. What is longer term for fans? Few months? Years? Weeks?
We need remind ourselves part of Quicks ease of transition is his number two college coach, a guy he might hae spend a lot of time with the previous 2 year the very Kenny Payne was right there waiting for him in the NBA! That had to had a big effect on a rookie transitioning with especially with all the aforementioned aspects I just mentioned. It might serve to cap expectations on Quicks ascension could hit a ceiling for a bit. Its ok, kid is doing great!
But that advantage is not on OBI, or other players for other teams. Lamelo seems to be doing better and having a healthy productive Haywood and Rozier on the court helps. James Edwards now might not be the same player in a year. 20 odd games in and some of you are thinking MInny panics this fast and blows it up? KAT has been personally devastated and has had COvid and injury. Fresh scenery can also add additional pressures that don’t always help. Makes no sense to blow it up now.
Thibs might be actually trying to lay low a bit with OBI but even still the Taskmaster himself is a tough boss. Noah, Butler, Gibson, and DRose developed wonderfully under him. Thibs was there for 5 years. Knicks have played how many games this season?????