New York Knicks: 3 Players who will benefit the most from Kemba Walker

New York Knicks: Player #3 — Immanuel Quickley

I’m not sure how many minutes Immanuel Quickley and Kemba Walker will share on the court together next season.

With Walker set to slot in as the starting point guard and Quickley ready to assume a similar role as a stick of dynamite off the bench, these two sharing significant minutes on the court together could be few and far between.

Still, Walker’s impact on Immanuel Quickley’s growth could be extraordinary.

If you watched the New York Knicks in Summer League, you saw Immanuel Quickley running point. Quickley was the team’s primary offensive hub, taking on the majority of the scoring and facilitating burden.

Quickley posted some big-time assist totals in the Sumer League. It led to discussion among fans and analysts about whether or not Quickley has point guard potential and what his overall growth in the NBA could look like. 

Players like Quickley can fall victim to being placed in a box in terms of their player archetype. He didn’t enter the NBA as a “point guard” but he has some point guard skills. He’s a little short for a 2-guard, and his most prominent, NBA-ready strengths were clearly his shooting and scoring ability. He was a “tweener” guard.

Look at someone like Walker, who is probably most accurately described as a “score-first” point guard, and how he’s excelled in the league.

There’s so much Quickley can absorb from Kemba Walker.

With his short stature, Walker has made a living creating space for himself. Changing speeds, different crossovers, a quick first step — Quickley didn’t enter the league with the same ball-handling finesse that Walker did, but he can certainly pick up a thing or two from the veteran guard.

Breaking down his defender and getting to the rim more frequently could take Quickley’s game to new heights. He’s already displayed a nice knack for making cross-court, intermediate-level point guard passes and reads. People forget he was a point guard in high school. If Immanuel Quickley can start breaking down his defender more frequently and be a threat driving to the rim… look out.

With Kemba Walker on the roster, Quickley has a tremendous resource to learn from and advance his game.