With Julius Randle out, what will the New York Knicks lineup look like?
By Adam Kester
New York Knicks: Obi Toppin takes the starting spot
This is the one fans want to see.
Obi Toppin’s playing time has been another hot topic this season.
Toppin has long been stuck behind Julius Randle in the rotation. It wasn’t much of an issue last season because of the dominant Randle was and how much Toppin was struggling, but suddenly the on-court impact has flipped.
Toppin is the one who is posting remarkable numbers and leads the entire roster in player efficiency rating. Randle is the one whose metrics have been grading poorly.
Julius Randle has also been an iron man in his time in New York and this will be the first string of games he’s missed since becoming a Knick.
Toppin has seen some minutes sprinkled in here or there when he’s gotten to run with some of the starters, but those opportunities have been few and far between.
“Stick of dynamite” “jolt of energy” and “sparkplug” have been some terms to describe how Obi Toppin impacts a basketball game. Well, what if that sparkplug started at tip-off?
It’s going to be really fascinating to see because of how different Toppin and Randle are on the court. Randle seems to need the ball and struggles to have an impact away from it, whereas Toppin struggles to create with the ball in his hands but is extremely dangerous off-ball.