Will Obi Toppin win a dunk contest or make an All-Star team?
I figured I’d start this one off with the most obvious of the bunch.
I believe Obi Toppin will win the Dunk Contest at least once during his career and seeing how this will be the second that he’s attended so far, it’s anything but farfetched.
If Toppin has done anything during his career so far, it’s been electrifying the Madison Square Garden crowd with high-flying dunks.
While his play on the court has had its ups and downs thus far, his pure athleticism and bounciness have done nothing short of amazing New Yorkers in his two-year career.
But just assuming Obi will win a Dunk Contest isn’t so bold.
So I also believe that he will make at least one All-Star appearance before he hangs ’em up for good.
His rookie season wasn’t much to write home about as we all know.
Between the emergence of Julius Randle as a true (but temporary) superstar and Coach Thibodeau having the shortest of leashes for his youngest players, Obi was in the doghouse more often than not.
I wrote several trade articles discussing the idea of trading Toppin because of his poor fit on the team last year.
But, coming into this season, it was a whole different Obi we were witnessing.
Obi’s first 30 games of the season while playing next to a true Point Guard with which he had prior chemistry like Derrick Rose had us witnessing the best Obi had ever looked.
More often than not, Obi’s play on the court was better than what the stat sheets showed us, as he was always hustling down the court to contest a shot or creating offense with his timely passing.
The reason a lot of us are so low on Obi is that over the last 20+ games, he’s been without a true PG facilitating for him on the second unit.
He’s never gonna be the kind of guy that can create much of his offense, but I do see star potential in him.
Whether that’s with the Knicks or not remains to be seen.