Sacrifice has been a theme of the New York Knicks' season thus far, with recent reports suggesting it was an issue for the team last year. The Knicks have undeniably sacrificed several beloved, home-grown talents in their recent quest to build a contender. Trading RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley to the Toronto Raptors broke hearts. But the latter of the two has been thriving up North as a starter, the way he never could as a Knick.
IQ's poor start to the season ended quickly
In his first six games of the season, Quickley started the year off on the wrong foot. The 26-year-old guard averaged 13.3 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 6.8 assists per game on 39.1% shooting. He also only made 25% of his 3-point attempts in October. He even struggled at the free throw line, uncharacteristic of the guard thus far in the NBA, shooting just 72% there.
After a mediocre outing against the Grizzlies to start November, Quickley has been electric: the version of himself that Knick fans remember well but scaled up into a starting role. Even with his nine-point, three-assist, five-foul struggle at home against Memphis included, IQ has shined bright for the Raptors.
The sixth-year guard has averaged 17.6 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 5.6 assists per game in the first nine games of the month. The Raptors have won them all except one, a loss in which he logged 22 points, six rebounds, and six assists on 5-9 shooting on threes.
Quickley's success from distance that night wasn't fool's gold, either. Quickley's made 3.2 shots per game from downtown of his 7.2 nightly attempts, good for a 44.6% conversion rate.
He may not keep up the near-45% 3-point shooting for the rest of the season, but he's made clear over the last seven games in particular that he might just be kicking into gear, averaging 19.1 points, 5.4 rebounds and 5.7 rebounds per game in that smaller stretch.
Next step for Quickley is overwriting playoff woes
In 13 playoff games with New York, Quickley averaged 7.8 points, 1.5 rebounds, one assist, and 1.1 turnovers per game in 19.4 minutes. He played in just five games against the Atlanta Hawks in 2021, averaging 15.4 minutes and scoring 5.8 points on 36% from downtown.
In eight games in 2023, the young guard struggled against both the Cavaliers and Heat with regard to creating shots for himself or others. His 34.8 FG% was improved from the 30.3% line he put up as a rookie. But he still wasn't very impactful, taking 4.6 3-pointers a game and making just 24.3% of them.
Quickley's success hasn't come from him just 'getting a bigger role' as a Raptor. His 2024-25 season was mired by injuries that caused him to play in just 33 contests. This season, he's given Toronto a 38.1% overall 3-point shooter and has made 70.6% of his shots taken from within five feet of the basket. That's a career high by more than 8% and is in the NBA's 78th percentile through Thursday.
If that ability to get to the rim – and score there – translates to the postseason, Quickley's shooting becomes even more dangerous. The ability to put it all together would represent his ultimate evolution from Knicks' bench-spark to winning Raptors starter. Time and health will reveal if he can do it.