Now in his fourth year in the NBA, Immanuel Quickley has been a young and promising piece within the Knicks since Day 1. The former All-Rookie has improved his scoring output each of the last two seasons, showing his ability to be a chameleon and adapt to whatever head coach Tom Thibodeau needs from him.
Now that Quickley has shown the ability to adapt and thrive in the Knicks scheme, it’s time to see how the Knicks scheme can maximize the potential of the budding superstar.
In his rookie season, Quickley made a name for himself with his dazzling athleticism and motor that never stopped. Although he experienced the growing pains of the NBA and often struggled to move the ball and create for others, he increased his assist numbers from 2.0 to 3.5 per game. Appearing in 78 games with three starts, he showed an ability to control the offense off the bench and provide a spark the Knicks desperately needed outside of their starting five.
Last year, Quickley made the jump from role piece to key contributor, seeing his minutes increase by more than five per game. He thrived when given the extra responsibility, posting a career-high in points, rebounds, field goal percentage, three-point percentage, and free-throw attempts. He demanded more attention from opposing teams, increasing his field goal attempts by two per game. While his usage rate decreased, he found a way to impact the game in every phase, becoming the sixth man off Thibodeau’s bench.
Additionally, Quickley became more comfortable playing from the shooting guard position rather than a point guard. In his first two seasons, he spent the majority of his minutes running point. Since the start of last season, he has mostly spent time at the 2 while occasionally handling point guard responsibilities. Thibodeau adapting to Quickley’s skill set paid tremendous dividends as the Knicks had a +8.6 net rating when he was on the court versus on the bench last season.
This year, it’s time for Quickley…
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