New York Knicks fans might not be able to watch their favorite team in the NBA playoffs, but there’s a multitude of former players to support. Not only that but there’s a certain player that fans can watch in case they’re especially missing Immanuel Quickley.
That player is Tyrese Maxey and the most unfortunate thing about him is that he plays for the Philadelphia Sixers. The No. 21 overall pick of the 2020 draft has made a tremendous leap from his rookie season to his second year.
Hmm, that sounds a bit like Quickley, right? The difference is that New York’s guard hasn’t been given the chance that Maxey has in Philadelphia, even though the Knicks are notorious (and have been for a while) for not having a point guard.
Doc Rivers has been called into question by Sixers fans, but they don’t understand what it’s like to plead for Tom Thibodeau to give some of the Knicks’ younger players more minutes (like Quickley).
New York’s guard ended the year on a high note, but if he had been given more time on the court to develop, would Quickley be on a similar path as Maxey?
Immanuel Quickley 🤝 Tyrese Maxey
— Daily Knicks (@DailyKnicksFS) April 17, 2022
Knicks guard Immanuel Quickley has a similar playing style to Tyrese Maxey.
Quickley and Maxey have many things in common, but the most notable one is that they both played college basketball for Kentucky.
Quickley, who’s a year and (almost) five months older than Maxey, played for the Wildcats for two seasons before declaring for the draft.
The Knicks guard played with Maxey in 2019-20 and they frequently shared the floor together before Maxey was drafted four spots ahead of Quickley.
The two played in a similar number of games during their rookie seasons, although Quickley averaged more playing time with an average of 19.4 minutes in 64 games. Maxey played in 61 games for an average of 15.3 minutes.
As mentioned, the Philadelphia guard has truly blossomed in his second year. He averaged 17.5 points (in contrast to his 8 points per game his rookie season), 4.3 assists, 3.2 rebounds, and 35.3 minutes in 75 regular-season games (74 starts).
On the other hand, Quickley averaged 11.3 points (slightly down from his 11.4 average his rookie year), 3.5 rebounds, 3.2 assists, and 23.1 minutes in 78 regular-season contests (3 starts). His numbers weren’t as high as Maxey’s, but he does have a slight upper hand in one regard.
Even after the Sixers acquired James Harden from the Nets on Feb. 10 as part of the Ben Simmons trade, Maxey continued to shine.
Philadelphia thought that the trade would result in a ‘Big Two’ but a ‘Big Three’ has formed in its place.
Maxey had officially arrived on the scene before the playoffs, but he’s still been making sure that his name is heard in the meantime.
He dropped 38 points (14-of-21) in Game 1 of the first round against the Raptors before turning around and scoring 23 (8-of-11) in Game 2, along with nine rebounds and eight assists. And guess who was watching?
“MAXEY” “MAXEY”
— Immanuel Jaylen Quickley (@IQ_GodSon) April 17, 2022
Quickley and Maxey both play with the same speed and can drop beautiful passes to their teammates, but Maxey is a better shooter than Quickley, which is likely a result of his increased playing time.
The Sixers point guard shot 48.5% from the field and 42.7% from the 3-point line during the regular season, while Quickley shot 39.2% from the floor and 34.6% from beyond the arc.
The Kentucky duo will soon be entering their third year in the league and depending on what moves New York makes during the offseason, Quickley could be handed the keys to the starting point guard position next year.
If that happens, the Knicks-Sixers matchups will be even more exciting. Even as a non-fan, it’s been fun to watch Maxey shine, but soon it’ll be Quickley’s turn.
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