Knicks Crushing Former Lottery Pick’s ‘Development & Trade Value’: Analyst

Getty Obi Toppin stands beside Quentin Grimes and RJ Barrett during a game between the New York Knicks and the Dallas Mavericks.

The sample size may be incredibly small at this point — we’re talking a grand total of three games heading into the NBA All-Star break — but the deal bringing two-way wing Josh Hart to the New York Knicks is looking like a rousing success.

New York is 3-0 since making the move and Hart — who has drawn raves from Tom Thibodeau — has been at the epicenter of the uptick. The soon-to-be 28-year-old is currently averaging 17.0 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.7 steals per game in a Knicks uniform. Moreover, the club is plus-41 in his 78 minutes on the court.

Still, we’d be hard-pressed to give the Knicks and team president Leon Rose an A-grade for their trade-deadline activity. As sweet as the Hart-Knicks pairing has been so far, major questions loom on the back end of the roster.

One of the biggest has to be the continued presence of former No. 8 overall pick Obi Toppin on the roster, especially given Thibodeau’s reluctance to play him. At least, that’s one analyst’s assessment.

B/R: Not Finding Some Kind of Resolution to the Obi Toppin Situation Is One of Knicks’ Deadline Failings

With the trade deadline now officially in the rearview, Bleacher Report’s Zach Buckley did his best to examine all that did (and didn’t) happen. In doing so, he identified some decisions that the team “should already regret” from the deal-making period.

As Buckley sees it, the failure to either clear a path toward playing time for Toppin, or ship the athletic big man out for something the team will actually use was a misstep.

“Prior to this trade deadline, [Toppin] was blocked by Julius Randle. After the deadline, Toppin is…still blocked by Julius Randle. Toppin isn’t even getting 15 minutes per game at this point, and only once this season has he spent more time on the floor than on the sideline,” wrote Buckley.

“This can’t be good for Toppin’s development — or his trade value.”

For the year, Toppin is averaging just 6.4 points and 3.1 rebounds in 14.9 minutes per game. He is shooting a career-best 35.1% from deep but, beyond that, his numbers, minutes and role have all shrunk in comparison to last year.

“If the Knicks have plans for him that are bigger than serving as a rotational reserve, they need to figure out how (and when) they can put those plans in action.”

Toppin Showed Incredible Progress With Increased Minutes Late Last Season

His performance in 2022-23 hasn’t really been a needle-mover for the Knicks or for himself, but there are still reasons to believe Toppin can be an impact player at the NBA level. At the very top of that list is the fact that he was actually doing it down the stretch of last season.

Over the final 15 games of 2021-22 — a period during which Randle missed several games — Toppin averaged 16.1 points and just under five rebounds in 24.8 minutes per game. Meanwhile, he connected on 57.1% of his shot attempts overall and 42.3% of his tries from deep (which were coming at a rate of 4.7 per game).

As he’s now almost 25, one could be forgiven for believing we know what Toppin has to offer as a basketball player. But his efforts down the stretch of ’21-22 indicate pretty clearly that there are higher gears he can hit.

It just may not be possible for him to do so behind Randle in the Big Apple.