2: Chemistry with teammates
While his individual numbers look impressive as a starter, Toppin’s impact on the team as a whole is overwhelmingly positive when given extended time on the court.
In the nearly 800 minutes that Quickley and Toppin have shared the court this season, the Knicks are outscoring opponents by 10.4 points per 100 possessions. That currently ranks as the highest mark among any other two-man pairing on the team.
In Toppin’s five starts, Barrett’s averaging 24.6 points, 7.0 rebounds, 3.2 assists, and 1.2 steals per game while shooting just over 42% from the field.
While New York has a lot of young talent, it’s become abundantly clear that the three aforementioned players represent the future of the Knicks more than anyone else. It’s a great sign that they all play well together, but they need to spend more minutes on the floor at the same time.
The Barrett/Toppin/Quickley trio has only shared the court for 252 minutes this season. While that may seem like a lot, it’s important to remember that New York’s played a total of 3,696 minutes this year. That means that the trio of the future has been on the court for just 6.8% of the time.
A full season of those three getting lots of minutes together wouldn’t likely lead the team back to the fourth seed in the East, but the basketball product would be much more fun for fans to watch and lead to a higher win total than most would suspect.