Immanuel Quickley: The Knicks’ Precocious Neophyte

Knicks’ rookie Immanuel Quickley is putting up historic numbers.

Immanuel Quickley is currently ranked 4th in rookie scoring with 12.2ppg, 39% from the field, and 5th in three-pointers made with 49 (37% on 4.6 attempts per game).

It is worth noting that Immanuel Quickley is producing these numbers despite playing significantly fewer minutes than his rookie peers, ranked 11th overall in total MPG per rookies ( an avg. of 18.9mpg).

Coach Thibs has yet to really unleash his rookie phenom. In his 29 games, this season Immanuel Quickley has only played 25+ minutes on five occasions and has only reached 30 minutes once.

His scoring potential is still largely untapped in his condensed role.

A glimpse into “IQ’s” per 36 numbers provides some insight into what his scoring potential might be in an expanded role, with averages of 23.3 points & 4.8 assists per game.

Compare those figures to fellow rookies Lamelo Ball (18.9p & 7.7assists), Anthony Edwards (17.9p & 3.3assists) and Tyrese Haliburton (15.8p & 6.4assists). Not bad at all!

Although it might be somewhat unrealistic to expect that kind of production at this point of his career, it’s not hard to see that the offensive potential is very much there, whether he can find the consistency and efficiency required for that level of production to earn those kinds of minutes is for him to prove.

Through his first 29 NBA games, the rookie guard has spent most of his minutes (74% per cleaningtheglass.com) as the Knicks’ lead ball-handler off the bench, providing a spark for the second unit by utilizing his creativity on offense.

Whether it’s with his signature floater, his ability to get defenders in the air and draw fouls (he is deadly at the FT line, 93.8%), or stepping back and draining deep three’s, IQ has proven to be a tough cover in the early stages of his NBA career.

Not only has he proven his ability as a scorer, but he has also shown flashes of his playmaking potential, particularly in the pick & roll where he draws the defense in and perfects the lob pass to rolling big men such as Robinson, Noel, or fellow Rookie Obi Toppin.

His playmaking ability was questioned coming out of college so that contributed to him falling to pick 25 in the draft. Some mock drafts had Immanuel Quickley going in the mid to late 2nd round.

Maybe, we’re yet to see the best of IQ’s playmaking abilities.