BBNBA Season in Review: Immanuel Quickley

Immanuel Quickley was a fan favorite in New York City, and not just for his infectious smile. The rookie guard played a role to help turn a desperate loser from the Big Apple into a top-four team in the east.

Here’s the skinny on his first season and an exciting future ahead.

Numbers

Season averages (per game): 11.4 points, 2.1 rebounds, 2 assists, 0.5 steals

Playoffs (per game): 5.8 points, 1.4 rebounds, 1 assist, 0.6 steals

Shooting splits (regular season): 39.5% FG, 89.1% FT, 38.9% 3p on 4.7 attempts per game

More (extra & interesting) stats:

• Second-team All-Rookie
• Scored season-high 31 vs. Portland
• 11th in NBA in FT%
• shot 30.3% in Playoffs

This past season…

It’s safe to say Immanuel Quickley surpassed Gary Parish’s D+ evaluation of the Knicks picking Quick 25th in the first round of last year’s draft.

One of two Kentucky guards on this year’s All-Rookie second-team, IQ exceeded expectations for a late first-round pick. He was selected as a shooter and that’s exactly what he did in year one.

Immanuel hit from beyond the arc at an above-average clip leaguewide, converting nearly 39% of his threes on more than four attempts per game. Over the course of the season, that was 303 attempts and 118 made threes.

If Quickley did nothing for the rest of his career except make a few threes a game at 39% he’d still be likey to retire with more than $100 million in career earnings. But he can add a lot more to his game. Aside from just the shooting, Quickley’s floater and tenacity on defense were two of his other selling points. The floater was his best form of scoring inside the arc while he was deployed as a defensive pest against Trae Young in the Playoffs and against other smaller guards throughout the season.

The BBN knew New York was getting a gem of a player and person, but the Knicks fans have gone grazier for IQ than the Big Blue did. Manhattan loves their new ‘Cat.

Looking ahead…

Following up such a feel-good, overachieving season is going to be a challenge for the upcoming Knicks team. Basketball fans are bit manic in the Mecca, and giving them one decent season could be like giving a dog a treat. After some winning, these fans are going to want more and more.

Whether this team can deliver again is unknown, but a step back next season could lead to turmoil throughout the team.

Essentially, I’m saying that Immanuel Quickley’s second season could be a tougher situation than the first. It’s a team that will be playing with expectation now that they made the Playoffs, and there could be some roster jostling now that New York is playing with a talent like Julius Randle that they can build off immediately.

Plus, Quickley’s role shrunk towards the end of the season and in the Playoffs he just wasn’t as big of a factor. Perhaps he may not see as many minutes in year two. Or, maybe the Knicks see his talent and make an even bigger investment into him as a second-year guy.

Last season he played with a coach that doesn’t typically love to play rookies in Tom Thibodeau, but Thibs had the neophyte out there in some close fourth quarters throughout regular season play, so clearly there is some early trust there.

The Knicks situation is completely up in the air yet again. This time with more talent and proof of success. Will the Knicks go all in to grab another star or will they bring everyone back for another go-around?

Either way, they’ll have a young sniper off the bench who should be a factor in New York for a very long time.