What does Immanuel Quickley’s path to a larger role look like?

Immanuel Quickley’s “Next Level”

The conversations have been had to exhaustion. Playing the kids vs. trusting Tom Thibodeau’s vets. Is playing the kids tanking? Are we better keeping them in small roles? What about this — Are the Knicks a flat-out better team with their younger players playing heavier minutes?

After a major drop-off in the win column last season, changes in the rotation hierarchy are certainly on the table. Bringing in a point guard like Brunson is a major move. The Knicks have pieces for two to three years down the line, but the problem is that a lot of these pieces still haven’t gotten a true sustained chance to showcase their potential.

If you want to talk about rookies having to earn their spot in a rotation and learn from the bench, that’s totally fair. That was a reasonable conversation during a lot of the Knicks players’ rookie years.

For Quickley, it’s year three in the league. There are only so many times a player like Quickley can “flash” on a team like the Knicks, who are far from having a roster that should prevent him from seeing a large role.

You don’t even have to be a Immanuel Quickley “stan” to at the very least, acknowledge that he has plenty of potential. He has the ability to make an impact now, but it’s the possibility of him growing into a high-end starter that needs to be put into action by the Knicks.

Even in the worst-case scenario that Quickley is some sort of average tweener guard, what are the Knicks sacrificing to make that discovery? They demote Fournier to a bench-scoring role? Does that somehow alter the course of the franchise? The writing is on the wall for Quickley to get his chance this season and help the team win now and in the future.

1 area of improvement for each key Knicks player in 2022-23

The New York Knicks will again look to compete this season, and to do so they'll need to be better. Here is one thing that the key players can improve on.