New York Knicks: Don’t sleep on a year-2 Immanuel Quickley “breakout”
By Adam Kester
New York Knicks: Immanuel Quickley’s path to playing time
Easily the biggest obstacle standing in Immanuel Quickley’s way are the players in front of him.
New York brought back Derrick Rose and Alec Burks and signed Kemba Walker as the team’s new starting point guard. There are going to be some newly added elements to the offense with Kemba Walker and Evan Fournier in the fold.
What we have to realize with Walker is that his playing time probably won’t be all that different from Elfrid Payton’s last season. Payton finished the season averaging 23.6 minutes per game and that was with his decreased playing time towards the end of the season. Quickley is going to at the very least have his same set playing time/role to start the season.
There’s a reason the Thunder couldn’t find a trade partner for Walker and the New York Knicks were able to sign him for so cheap. The knee is going to be an issue.
The hope is that it won’t be an issue when he’s on the court. Walker was still a high-level player when he was on the court last season and he should continue to put up solid numbers with the Knicks.
I hate predicting injuries. What we can reasonably predict is missed time due to maintenance and rest, and that will certainly be the case for both Kemba Walker and Derrick Rose.
Rose hasn’t played in at least 70% of his team’s games since his first Knicks tenure in 2016-17. Walker, who missed half the season last year due to his knee condition, will likely miss some time to ensure he’s at full strength when he suits up and is fresh come playoff time.
For you fantasy football players out there, I like to think of this situation to the spry young rookie running back being drafted into a crowded backfield of veterans.
Think of New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara in his rookie season.
Kamara was playing behind Mark Ingram and Adrian Peterson, which we can laugh about now, but at the time, he was firmly number 3 on the depth chart behind two proven veterans. Yet with the wear and tear of the season, Kamara found his way through the mud and broke out.
Peterson and Ingram weren’t even washed! Ingram went on to be a top-10 fantasy running back for the Baltimore Ravens next season, and Adrian Peterson ran for 1000 yards in Washington.
Am I saying Quickley has RB1 upside this season? No, the turnover of NBA players is much less perpetual than the shuffling of a modern-day NFL backfield. He’s probably more of a flex play.
Still, let’s not just assume there’s zero path to an increased role for Immanuel Quickley. There’s plenty of reason to believe he’s made some strides in his game as well.