Obi Toppin has been a polarizing figure amongst NY Knicks fans ever since draft night back in 2020.
At first, a big chunk of the fanbase was calling for the Knicks to draft the former Iowa State Cyclone, Tyrese Haliburton.
While he’s been forced to play more of an off-ball role, at the time, the Knicks needed offensive creation badly so ‘Hali’ could have been the point guard the team had been yearning for.
Turned out, Haliburton probably would have been the better of the two picks but there’s no sense crying over spilled milk.
Once we all became ‘okay’ with the idea of Obi being our guy, considering he’d likely be Julius Randle’s predecessor, at the very least he provided us with a bit of hope for the future.
Then…the first week or so of the NBA season came and went.
Julius was now playing at an All-Star caliber level and became a cornerstone of the roster seemingly overnight.
Would you want the NY Knicks to trade Obi Toppin?
This meant that Obi would have some trouble finding ample playing time moving forward.
Unfortunately, the kid just isn’t nimble or agile enough to play much Small Forward, and not really big enough to get much burn at the 5, so really…the only spot for him is right where he’s been since he was drafted.
Playing second-fiddle behind Julius Randle and collecting the scraps of minutes he can find here and there.
Julius Randle led the entire league in minutes per game last season, averaging just under 38 per game.
We all hope Coach Thibs will lighten the load a bit this year as it did seem like Julius was burnt out come playoff time.
But even if he does reduce his minutes, I’d have to guess it wouldn’t be by too much because, at the end of the day, Thibs is gonna Thibs.
If I had to bet a dollar on it, I’d say Randle finishes the season at roughly 34 to 35 minutes per game.
So that means an extra 3 or 4 minutes a night for Obi, which would amount to just 14-15 minutes per contest.
Frankly, the kid deserves more, especially considering he’s a former Top 10 pick from just a year ago.
His fit with this team’s long-term future is questionable so here we’ll explore 3 trades that would both benefit the Knicks’ immediate future AND puts Obi in a position where he can find a more substantial role in another team’s rotation.
Would you consider this 3-team trade for the NY Knicks?
If this was last year’s draft…there’s no shot the Cavs swap picks with the Knicks as last year’s class was absolutely loaded but also had some incredibly special talents within the top 5 picks.
But this year, there are not nearly as many surefire studs, so maybe Cleveland takes a gamble and gives up their potential top 10 pick in exchange for Obi and the Knicks’ pick that will likely be in the low 20’s.
Say what you want about Obi being from Brooklyn and the Knicks having a hometown kid, but in the state of Ohio, Obi is a superstar.
He made a lot of fans in the city of Cleveland during his time at Dayton, and the Cavs are the perfect team for him to grow with.
Before any of the smarty pants in the comments say anything, yes, I’m aware they’re overloaded with big men…obviously, there would have to be a few trades made to have this make any sense.
But I can’t think of many better, young frontcourt tandems than Evan Mobley and Obi Toppin.
As far as the Pacers’ involvement in this deal, I’ve mentioned in past articles that Indiana has been trying to shed salary for about a year now, and getting Myles Turner off of their books could help them in their quest.
His fit next to Domantas Sabonis has always been questionable, so this trade could help facilitate a move towards the future of this Pacers team and help move Sabonis over to the 5.
If they were dead-set on that, then perhaps they could trade Mitch elsewhere for draft capital or a veteran player.
I know there’s a lot of moving parts here and I’m trying my best to make it all make some sense.
But the Knicks would look like a totally different team with Myles Turner at the 5 instead of guys like Nerlens Noel and Mitchell Robinson.
Do you think Obi Toppin to the Magic could work?
I’ll be the first to admit this one’s a bit wonky and I probably wouldn’t do it if it were offered. But the logistics make sense, so here we are.
The Knicks send two guys in Kevin Knox and Obi Toppin to a rebuilding team in Orlando while the Knicks get back a nice, young but reliable frontcourt piece in Wendell Carter Jr and another future 1st round pick in 2024.
Allow me to paint this picture here for you.
I know the Knicks already have 4 serviceable centers in Mitchell Robinson, Nerlens Noel, Taj Gibson, and Jericho Sims.
But Sims is unproven, this may be Taj’s last year, Noel is likelier to be traded inside the next two years than finish out his contract, and no one knows exactly what’s going on with Mitch’s extension.
So let’s say this happens because one or two of those guys is hurt and the Knicks need a good center to help their playoff push.
The former Duke Blue Devil could potentially be a Defensive Player of the Year Award winner if he’s ever given the right opportunity.
There may not be a better coach in the league to help Carter realize his full potential than Tom Thibodeau.
And still just 22 years old, his ceiling is still within reach if given the proper development.
The Knicks also receive a 2024 unprotected 1st round pick because the GM in Orlando is delirious and thinks this time can be above average by then.
Not gonna happen.
New York could luck out and get themselves a pick inside the top 15, or even the top 10 if they’re really lucky…in a year whereas of now, they just have one first-round pick.
Weird, I know.
This would give NY multiple first-rounders in each season for the next 3 years on top of the bevy of 2nd rounders over that span.
This could potentially give the Knicks the ability to make a trade for a Superstar in the coming years while keeping some picks for themselves.
Or it could help facilitate TWO trades for TWO superstars…
Should the NY Knicks send Obi Toppin to Houston?
I’ll be honest…I had an idea of what I wanted to do with the first two slides of this article but no clue what direction I wanted to go in for this last one.
But it turned out to be my favorite trade.
My goal was to find a rebuilding team where Obi could find a prominent role that had players or picks that the Knicks would be interested in acquiring.
The Houston Rockets have entered the chat.
Since they have basically every draft pick in every draft here on forward, they can stand to trade away a few.
Brooklyn’s pick will be a late 1st, but who cares?
That makes three first-rounders and SEVEN second-round selections in the 2023 ‘double draft’.
New York also acquires a defensive specialist in Usman Garuba out of Spain who was drafted 23rd overall in the 2021 NBA Draft.
One of if not the most versatile defender in this year’s draft class, Garuba would fit a Thibs ran team like a glove.
Oh, and guess who represents Usman as his agent…Leon Rose’s son!
I have a better time justifying Garuba being given about 15 minutes per game at the backup 4 as a former 23rd overall pick much more than I can stomach Obi only getting that many minutes as a former 8th overall pick.
Plus, Garuba can play a little 3 if needed but could easily fill in at the 5 if the Knicks wanted to go small for certain matchups.
To make the numbers work, I sent DJ Augustin to the Thunder along with a Knicks 2nd rounder for taking on the salary.
He’d likely be waived or bought out after.
Houston gets Obi who arguably has the higher ceiling but would never be realized as a Knick and the Knicks get a replacement frontcourt player and another 1st to add to their collection.
I love this trade.