Obi Toppin has shown improvements over the past two seasons as a New York Knick. Here are his strengths and needed improvements.
What a difference a year can make. During the 2020-21 season, fans said that Obi Toppin was a bust. This past season, however, we had fans chanting that Obi should take Randle’s job. But the change of heart for players, coaches, or this franchise isn’t new territory for this Knicks fanbase. Let’s look at last season:
- Kemba Walker (the prodigal son of New York!) went from hometown hero to “KEEP THIS MAN ON THE BENCH.”
- Julius Randle went from having fans chant “MVP” to “TRADE HIM FOR ANYTHING.”
- Tom Thibodeau went from earning the key to the city to fans wanting his head on a chopping block
All of that happened in ONE season. That should give you an indication of the ebbs and flows of being a New York Knicks fan.
But regardless of how fast players or coaches can either win or lose the fans’ hearts, there needs to be a discussion of one, Mr. Obi Toppin.
This past season had to be difficult for Obi because he showed improvement as a player. We can go back to the 2021 summer league, where he averaged 21 points, 8.3 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 44.5 field goal percentage, 34.3 three-point percentage, and 88.9 free throw percentage during 35.1 minutes per game. And not only did his counting stats increase, but his demeanor on the floor changed too. He started exuding confidence. Yet, Toppin received limited playing time until the end of the season once Randle was sidelined.
The second-year player (now third-year player) came out of the gates red-hot at the start of last season, and it made sense why he did. He was still in the same role as a backup, and the bench unit was healthy. Derrick Rose was leading the attack, Immanuel Quickley was playing that shoot-first off-ball combo guard role, and Alec Burks was the go-to iso guy. Along with that, Taj was his “always ready to battle” self, and then Toppin was right there as the backup power forward who could attack in space and be a lethal cutter.
And while he was succeeding in his role, many were complaining about Toppin not getting enough minutes because Randle started to regress from his Second All-NBA status, which was understandable. Obi would be hoopin’ and having a good run, and then Tom Thibodeau would pull him too early to slide Randle back in. (Also, at that point of the year, the starters were dreadful while the second unit was cleaning opposing benches’ clocks).
But Obi’s performance started to go downhill once Derrick Rose got injured and lineups had to be reshuffled due to either health and safety protocols or injuries. On top of that, the Kemba Walker benching didn’t help either because the second unit was thrown out of rhythm once Alec Burks got promoted to the starting point guard.
However, as I noted earlier, Toppin started to show more promise as a player towards the end of the 2021-22 season – when Randle was sidelined for the rest of the year. Toppin just needed minutes and the reassurance that Tom Thibodeau wasn’t going to give him the quick hook.
I bring all of this up because, as of this moment, Obi’s path to get more minutes in a rigid Thibodeau rotation seems bleak. He doesn’t have a clear path like Immanuel Quickley or Quentin Grimes.
Yet, Toppin has demonstrated he can be a productive basketball player, mainly on the offensive end. However, there are still areas where he needs to improve as well.
Obi’s strengths
One of Obi’s greatest strengths is his willingness to move without the ball. His ability to leak out in transition and cut the lane or baseline in the half-court is refreshing for a team that loves to stand around on the perimeter or dribble the ball from side to side. According to NBA Advanced Stats, Toppin ranked in the 77.9 percentile last season when scoring off cuts. Now, he doesn’t get that many possessions based on the number of minutes he received last season, but it’s clear through the eye test and numbers that he makes an impact as a slasher.
Another strength of Obi’s game is his ability to finish around the rim. Sure, we know Obi as a high-flying dunker, which is great for the flash and flare of the game. But because of his jaw-dropping athleticism, he’s one of the more efficient scorers around the rim.
Per cleaning the glass, Obi finished 72 percent (177/247) of his shots around the rim and ranked in the 66th percentile. Toppin was the third most efficient player on the Knicks when it came to finishing around the rim. The first two players are Jericho Sims and Mitchell Robinson, respectively (though Sims shouldn’t count because he didn’t play that much nor attempted nearly as many shots as Robinson and Toppin).
Now I mentioned earlier how Toppin loves to leak out in transition. Well, Obi’s most underrated attribute is his ability to push the pace himself, which we saw from him during his time at Dayton.
Even though it is a relief for the Knicks to finally have a point guard in Jalen Brunson, we still want to see some diversity in the offense. And since analysts and fans love to talk about position-less basketball, having Obi relieve Brunson, Rose, or Quickley of their duties from initiating the offense will allow those players to spot-up and get open looks. Also, it will enable the Knicks’ offense to cause confusion and force opposing defenses to adjust.
Now I know some of you are saying, didn’t we see Julius Randle handle the rock last season? So it’s not that much of a difference.
Yes, we did see Randle initiate the offense. However, more often than not, Randle forced shots and missed open teammates. On the other hand, Obi grabs the board, pushes the pace, attacks the rack, and makes the easy pass nine out of ten times.
Where Obi needs to improve
Last season, Obi had a 104 defensive rating, which was an improvement from his 106.5 rating from the year before – considering he played with a similar second unit the prior year. Yet, as much as Obi has improved on defense since his college years, there is still room for him to grow.
Much of Tom Thibodeau’s trust in Toppin is about his ability to hold his own on defense, especially guarding multiple positions. Whether that is in isolated matchups, making his rotations, positioning himself to block off easy lanes to the hoop, or getting defensive rebounds (more on that in a bit).
One area for Obi to become a better defender is understanding various situational moments. For instance, does he need to leak out whenever it’s a close score game and every possession matters? Instead, maybe he should help rebound because the Knicks are having a difficult time on the boards, and their opponent is getting too many second chance opportunities to score.
As Tom Thibodeau mentioned, “The NBA game’s a lot different than a college game. You gotta not only learn how the game’s different, you gotta learn all the personnel, you gotta learn the schemes, you gotta learn all those things so that it becomes instinctive to you.”
Thibs believes that Obi will get there. It’ll just take repetitions.
Now as I noted earlier, Obi getting rebounds will be critical for him to get more minutes on the court. For the first two seasons, Toppin averaged 2.2 rebounds (11 MPG) and 3.7 rebounds (17.1 MPG). According to Obi’s Per 36 Minutes, he could’ve averaged 7.3 and 7.8 rebounds those years.
As we saw in the last 12 games where Obi was averaging 28.4 minutes, he averaged 5.1 rebounds. On top of that, we’ve seen through the last couple of preseason games that he averaged 6 rebounds in 22 minutes of action. So we know Obi can make an impact on the glass. But for Obi to take that next step as a rebounder, he’ll need to be judicious when he leaks out to get easy baskets versus when he stays back to help his team secure the ball.
Another area for Obi to improve is his jumper. Once again, during the last 12 games of the season when he got an extended run, Obi averaged 58 field goal percentage and shot 44.3 three-point percentage. And after one preseason game, Obi was back to shooting UFOs.
Now, Obi did bounce back against the Indiana Pacers and knocked down 4-7 threes (he went 10-14 overall from the field). But still, Obi needs a consistent jump shot to open up his game and be a more lethal offensive threat. Of course, we already know he can move well without the ball and attack the lane. But if he wants to be a more dominant player, he’ll need to do more than be Kenneth Faried 2.0.
He recently mentioned during a presser that he is now shooting with confidence. So hopefully, he can keep this trend going into the regular season.
Obi needs a chance, and he has yet to get it fully. He’ll be in the third year of his contract, and there are still questions about what type of player he can be for the Knicks. Even though Randle is still on the team, Thibs has to figure out a way to get Obi closer to 20 minutes a night. Not only to evaluate Toppin but because Obi has demonstrated he can contribute.
Stay tuned to KnicksFanTV.com for the latest Knicks news, rumors, and recaps throughout the NBA season. And in case you missed it, check out the latest Knicks Weekly, where CP, Alex, & Geoff discuss season expectations!
