We’re almost a quarter through the regular season and It’s been difficult to pinpoint just exactly where the New York Knicks stand in the Eastern Conference.
Every week there’s a crushing loss to a bottom-dwelling team and a triumphant victory over one of the best teams in the league. A gigantic lead squandered and a dramatic comeback.
The inconsistency shows up in some of the individual player stats as well — It seems as though every week, a different player has caught fire or gone ice cold.
Yet through all of these inconsistencies, there has been something brewing that is impossible to ignore. Obi Toppin has developed into one of the most unique young weapons in the NBA.
Obi Toppin has emerged for the New York Knicks
Obi Toppin’s unnatural fit with the Knicks has been written about many times. A player who plays the same position as the team’s star, Julius Randle. A player who thrives in transition yet plays for a slower-paced team. A player who came into the league as a raw defensive prospect and is playing for a head coach in Tom Thibodeau who will throw you his doghouse for lackluster defense.
Yet here we are towards the end of November 2021 and Obi Toppin has suddenly become a key part of the team’s rotation and gameplan.
His uniqueness, his contrast to every other player on the team, has made him invaluable to their success. Defenses are never prepared for Obi Toppin.
This may sound like hyperbole for a role player, but Toppin’s impact has shown up in every inch of the court.
New York Knicks: Obi Toppin’s stock is rising
What’s the current perception of Obi Toppin? He’s a “sparkplug”. He’s a stretch-4 who is still a work in progress at being a stretch-4. He’s a high-flyer, but not much else?
In all honestly, it’s really difficult to figure out good player comparisons for Obi Toppin. I think for the high-end comparisons we usually go to guys like Blake Griffin and Amar’e Stoudemire, but even those don’t feel right.
One, it’s not really fair to Obi to compare him to perennial All-Stars. On the other hand, I don’t remember Stoudemire or Griffin being as ridiculously fast and relentless moving off-ball as Toppin. I can’t think of many power forwards who are.
We’ve been so focused on Toppin’s “next steps” as a player who can create his own offense, that sometimes, we don’t even realize how impactful he is without the ball in his hands.
Toppin has averaged 10.5 points in his last 4 games, with 12 points on 6/11 from the field in the team’s most recent game with the Lakers.
Some injuries to the New York Knicks’ frontcourt have cleared the way for increased minutes for Toppin. His recent play may have made this increased role more permanent.
It hasn’t just been his usual impact as a rim runner, he’s shown a lot of commitment to defense. Although he doesn’t have quite enough minutes played to be qualified, Toppin’s defensive box plus/minus, one of the more individual defensive metrics, would rank 37th among all NBA players and in the top 77% percentile.
Becoming an NBA defender takes time and Obi Toppin is starting to put it together. He has the length to recover on the perimeter, he’s quick on his rotations, and he finds himself in the right spot more often than not.
This doesn’t feel like a trend, this feels like a young player figuring out how they can maximize their strengths in the NBA.
I don’t think we understood how much we really needed Obi Toppin on this team.
Why Obi Toppin’s role is so important for the New York Knicks
It doesn’t matter that Obi Toppin isn’t handling the ball, dishing out assists, or knocking down a ton of 3-pointers. That stuff can come down the line.
For right now, Obi Toppin’s impact as an off-ball, heat-seeking missile has been invaluable to the team’s success because, well, no one else on the team has anywhere close to his skillset.
What did the New York Knicks do this offseason? They added ball-handlers.
The team has the depth that if one of their ball-handlers gets injured, they have the depth to have someone else step up. Kemba Walker, RJ Barrett, Evan Fournier, Julius Randle, Derrick Rose, Immanuel Quickley, Alec Burks, the list goes on.
No one can just step in and fill the role that Obi Toppin has.
He is on the court solely to benefit his teammates. He sprints down the court, he cuts hard to the rim, he flies around the perimeter, he makes extra skip passes — he does everything to keep the wheels moving on offense.
You can see it even when he isn’t scoring. How many “almost alley-oops” have you seen from Obi Toppin this year?
Even when the pass doesn’t happen, Toppin is causing defenses to panic, scramble, and go into a frenzy trying to keep track of him. His gravity helps out whoever has the ball for the Knicks.
Why not make this role more consistent?
I mentioned earlier how streaky the New York Knicks shooters have been. Why not throw Obi out there at the small forward more? Or the 5? Or the 4? Wherever!
The Knicks offense will not suffer just because Toppin isn’t a ball-handler. If one of their perimeter players gets ice cold, take them out, and throw Obi Toppin out there to wreak havoc.
He’s been a net-positive player in 15 of the New York Knicks’ 18 games.
This isn’t a call to get Obi Toppin on the floor more because he’s a young, hometown fan favorite. This is because he makes the team better every time he’s on the floor.