Knicks' playing-time logjam could be solved by trading Immanuel Quickley
Knicks guard Immanuel Quickley prepares to pass the ball away from Thunder guard Aaron Wiggins during the second half of an NBA game Wednesday in Oklahoma City. Credit: AP/Nate Billings
ORLANDO, Fla. — The first thing you need to know is that Immanuel Quickley is a player the Knicks value highly, a reliable scorer and a hard-working defender who has steadily improved during his career. The Knicks are simply a better team when he is on the court.
So why does it seem as if he isn’t valued — from the failure to sign him to a contract extension before the season to the reduced minutes and the sometimes odd moves that take him off the court in crunch time?
“That’s the challenge,” coach Tom Thibodeau said. “We have good players. It’s easy to sit there and say, ‘Well, this guy should’ve played more.’ And you can certainly make a case for people because when they’re playing well, that’s a natural question. But OK, well, who are you taking out? Because you can’t just keep adding without taking out. And I know it’s not easy, but it’s also what’s best for the team. So you’re asking everyone to sacrifice and put the team first. And for the most part, I think our guys have handled that well.”
Just how well they’ve handled it is debatable, with Josh Hart and Quentin Grimes having openly griped about their opportunities earlier this season. Quickley, to his credit, has never gone public as his minutes have dipped.
The simple answer is that with the current roster construction, the Knicks are overcrowded in the backcourt. When they made the move to sign Donte DiVincenzo in the summer, they added a valuable piece to the roster but also added to the logjam. With his placement in the rotation in place of Obi Toppin, the Knicks have him battling with RJ Barrett, Grimes, Hart and Quickley for minutes alongside Jalen Brunson.
And the complicated answer, one that the Knicks have not faced yet and might alienate the fan base, is that moving Quickley before the trade deadline might be the easiest solution to breaking that logjam. The combination of value to a team that would make him a starter and his low-cost expiring contract makes Quickley a piece that could be paired with Evan Fournier’s expiring deal and some combination of the Knicks’ surplus of draft picks to land them a better fit, giving them more size and opening up minutes for the remaining guards and wings.
The Knicks could move someone else. Grimes, who saw his minutes limited to 11 Wednesday in Oklahoma City, or even Barrett could generate interest. But until they move one or more of them, the Knicks are going to face this problem. And for now, nearly every one of the Knicks’ best-performing lineups includes Quickley.
“I don’t get into that stuff,” Quickley said. “I watch film on the team I’m about to play, work hard, and when I get on the court, try to do the best I can.”
And he has done that, finishing second in the Sixth Man of the Year balloting last season and providing a spark again this season — including 20 points in 22:29 against the Bucks on Monday and 22 points in 24:44 against the Thunder. Still, he was pulled in the final four minutes on Wednesday in favor of Barrett, who was having a rough night.
“You’re gonna finish with different guys,” Thibodeau said. “It’s what the game needs. Sometimes it’s matchups. Sometimes someone’s got it going. Sometimes you need size; you’re looking at the switching you’re doing. And you’re asking guys to sacrifice, because you can only put five out there. And so that’s the way you roll with it. We need everyone.”
For now, the Knicks have little choice. But at some point the chaos has to end and, with Quickley set for restricted free agency in the summer, the time may be coming to resolve this problem.
Notes & quotes: The NBA announced Thursday that the Feb. 26 game at Detroit has been moved to Madison Square Garden, meaning the Knicks now will have 41 games on the road after the In-Season Tournament left them with 42 road games. The 2-28 Pistons will play 42 road games.
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
