3 Knicks players that disappointed in 2022-23 season

2. Obi Toppin

Considering how great Obi Toppin looked to end the 2021-22 season, fans were excited to see what he would bring to the table in 2022-23. For a while, it seemed like Toppin was going to improve even further upon what he did the year prior. However, after suffering a leg injury, Toppin didn’t look the same for most of the season.

While Toppin had some incredibly explosive performances following the loss of Julius Randle toward the end of the season, these games alone don’t make up for how bad he looked at times. This wasn’t entirely his fault, as an incredible finishing talent being used as a spot-up shooter is far from ideal, but Toppin simply didn’t do much at all when he was on the floor.

In 67 games, Toppin averaged 7.4 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 1.0 assists while shooting 44.6% from the field and 34.4% from three on 3.7 attempts. To show how hilariously mis-utilized Toppin was, he only shot an average of 6.3 shots per game, meaning well over half of his attempts came from behind the arc.

Fans weren’t saying Tom Thibodeau should have run the offense around Toppin, but running the occasional pick-and-roll or simply allowing Toppin to drive into the paint wouldn’t have hurt the Knicks by any means.

Regardless, Toppin still had plenty of opportunities to step it up this season and aside from his nice run at the end of the season, he was inconsistent. Whether the Knicks opt to trade Toppin or not, fans hope he picks his level of play up for the sake of his career.