Immanuel Quickley desired challenges. Although he never asked for a trade with New York, it was obvious that he thought of himself as more than the Knicks could offer.
He didn’t want to be Jalen Brunson’s role-playing backup point guard. As the 24-year-old approached free agency, he desired more. However, Quickley has had challenges with a larger role because his performance hasn’t quite been the same since he joined the Toronto Raptors in early January.
He used to be an above-average shooter but his shooting efficiency has plummeted to slightly below-average overall. Since moving to Toronto, his pull-up three-point shooting, which was previously the best in the league, has dropped to 29.7%, and his touch inside the arc hasn’t been the same either.
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Begs the question, Why?
It has a lot to do with Quickley’s application. In Toronto as opposed to New York, he has been asked to play more on the ball with Scottie Barnes and RJ Barrett. This meant that he had to take harder shots without having to worry about elite weaponry occupying additional space by playing next to him. It also stems from Quickley’s increased respectability among Toronto’s offensive line. Other teams no longer rank him as their fourth or fifth option on the scouting report. Rather, he is regarded as the Raptors’ best weapon and is used as such.
“It’s one thing when you come off the bench and then you play against second second-unit guys. The other thing is when you’re a starter on a team and one of the most important players in the team, different kinds of defenders are guarding you, different kinds of coverages, a different teammate is setting a screen for you,” Raptors coach Darko Rajaković said Wednesday. That’s taken some adjusting that hasn’t come immediately to Quickley.
“He’s trying to be aware of where his teammates are, how to find them, to find a balance between being aggressive and to run the team. And that’s not a skill that you obtain overnight,” Rajaković added.
Toronto is not worried
Quickley is still viewed by the team as someone who should be paired with Barnes going ahead. Rajaković stated that Quickley’s numbers will return to his career average after a hot stretch, and it shouldn’t take long for him to settle in with his new teammates.
“I see a lot of potential and I see that we are just scratching the surface,” Rajaković said of Quickley.
Quickley has been able to concentrate deeply on the last stretch of the season after taking a week off to refocus away from the team. Though it’s still early in the process, the team’s new lead guard is still figuring out how to strike a balance between being aggressive and creating opportunities for others.
“I’m having fun learning all of it because this is what I wanted,” he said. “I wanted to be challenged and this is what I wanted.”