Knicks reportedly trading Immanuel Quickley to Toronto Raptors

Immanuel Quickley is headed north to Canada.

According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the New York Knicks are finalizing a deal that will send Quickley to the Toronto Raptors. As part of the trade, the Knicks will receive OG Anunoby, Precious Achiuwa, and Malachi Flynn from the Raptors while RJ Barrett and one future second-round pick will head to Toronto with Quickley.

Now in his fourth NBA season — all with the Knicks — the 24-year-old Quickley is averaging a career-high 15 points per game while shooting a career-high 45.4 percent from the field, a career-high 39.5 percent from beyond the arc, and 87.2 percent from the free throw line. He also chips in 2.6 rebounds and 2.5 assists in his 24 minutes per game as a scoring spark off the bench.

The Toronto Raptors are finalizing a trade to send OG Anunoby to the New York Knicks for a package including RJ Barrett, Immanuel Quickley and draft considerations, sources tell ESPN. pic.twitter.com/Z81TH1EexF

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) December 30, 2023

Quickley, who finished second in the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year race in 2022-23, has been mentioned in trade rumors for a while now. He’s up for a significant contract extension that could net him as much as $100 million over the course of his next deal. But instead of keeping him in the Big Apple long-term, the Knicks’ front office went ahead and moved Quickley to a new franchise.

In Toronto, Quickley will join a struggling Raptors squad that is just 12-19 on the season, fourth-worst in the Eastern Conference. He’ll team up in the backcourt with the likes of Dennis Schroder and Gary Trent Jr., along with his Knicks teammate RJ Barrett. More playing time will likely come his way under first-year head coach Darko Rajakovic.

Judging by Quickley’s social media post shortly after Wojnarowski broke the news, the trade was a shock to him, too. He was teammates with another former Wildcat, two-time NBA All-Star Julius Randle, during his entire tenure in New York.

Oh my goodness….

— Immanuel Jaylen Quickley (@IQ_GodSon) December 30, 2023

The 6-foot-2 Quickley spent two seasons at Kentucky before the Knicks selected him with the 25th overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft. He was a solid contributor as a freshman in Lexington during the 2018-19 season before developing into a star as a sophomore in 2019-20. Quickley was crowned SEC Player of the Year that season after averaging 16.1 points per game on a 42.8 percent shooting clip from three-point range.