1: Obi Toppin
Obi Toppin hasn’t come up in any trade reports so far during the season and although Julius Randle has been playing well, trading the No. 8 pick in the 2020 draft would cause Knicks Twitter to crumble.
Toppin was dealt a tough blow earlier this week when he injured his knee in the Knicks’ win over the Hawks. An MRI revealed that he suffered a non-displaced fracture in his right fibula and he’ll be re-evaluated in a few weeks. An injury is never good news but with Toppin still fighting for an increased role in Thibodeau’s rotation, him being sidelined will only make it harder for him once he returns.
Similar to Cam, Obi hasn’t been treated fairly by Thibs when it comes to playing time and use. Toppin is a more consistent player than Reddish, but that hasn’t mattered to Thibodeau. Playing time should be dictated by how well a player performs, but in Toppin’s case, it hasn’t mattered.
A Toppin trade would be difficult for Knicks fans to accept, but a trade would actually benefit him because he likely wouldn’t be stashed on the bench on his new team. Hopefully, things won’t come to that, though.
Right now, the hope should be that Obi will be able to return to the lineup in a few weeks because as RJ Barrett said, the team will miss his energy.
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There's two months remaining until the 2023 NBA trade deadline, so let's predict where the Knicks could send Derrick Rose, Evan Fournier, and Cam Reddish.