NY Knicks: Immanuel Quickley sky-rockets up the NBA’s rookie rankings

The Sky Is The Limit For NY Knicks’ Immanuel Quickley

There will be some who will point out Immanuel Quickley’s low 38.9% field goal percentage and make a negative assumption based on it. It’s a classic example of a traditional stat not telling the whole story.

There is no question that Quickley will play a little too much hero-ball and force up some difficult shots, but he’s given every indication that some of those shots will start falling in the future.

Looking at John Hollinger’s famous PER (Player Efficiency Rating) metric, Quickley jumps off the page. Quickley’s PER of 18.27 is 2nd among all rookies, once again trailing just LaMelo Ball. It’s an all-encompassing metric that “Sums up all a player’s positive accomplishments, subtracts the negative accomplishments, and returns a per-minute rating of a player’s performance.”

Just like any rookie, Immanuel Quickley still has a lot to learn and improve on. Even if someone wants to point out his spotty defense, it hasn’t been anywhere close to a consistently negative impact on the team. Opposing teams’ effective field goal percentage is actually .6% lower when Quickley is on the court.

His influence on the entire team seems to always be a net-positive, and he’s been the reason for some of the Knicks’ wins this year. Who knows how what kind of numbers Quickley could put up should he gain more consistent playing time in the 2nd half of the season. At this point, Quickley coming off of the bench isn’t a problem – It’s actually a role that seems to suit both him and the team quite nicely. However, Quickley should absolutely be playing a consistent 20-30 minutes every-game. Let your star rookie play through mistakes.

The NY Knicks now have a rookie who is catching the eyes of scouts, executives, and players all across the league. Even with his limited minutes, it will come to no one’s surprise if he finishes this season on the All-Rookie First Team.

What’s even more exciting is to think about is the player he has yet to become. Immanuel Quickley’s confidence at such an early stage of his career is something that can’t be taught. He makes his teammates better, and he wants the ball in pressure situations. He’s a star in the making.