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With Julius Randle Out, It's Now or Never For Knicks' Obi Toppin

Whatever remains of the New York Knicks' season could forge a path ahead for Obi Toppin's NBA career ... or keep it sputtering.

Geoff Magliocchetti

Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports
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Those New York Knicks watchers that have demanded to see more of 2020 first-round pick Obi Toppin have been granted the ultimate monkey's paw wish fulfillment.

Logic dictates that Toppin will see plenty of minutes as the Knicks (44-33) close out their regular season and move into an expected playoff trek. The extra minutes, alas, come through medical misfortune: New York will be missing Julius Randle for the final five and his status for the postseason is up in the air after the two-time All-Star suffered an ankle injury in a crucial victory over Miami on Wednesday.

The Knicks are handling the brutal loss of manpower as well as a team denied its All-Star could be as they prepare for a potential playoff preview on Friday in Cleveland (7:30 p.m. ET, MSG). Randle's jaw-dropping workload (second in the NBA in minutes and having partaken in all 77 prior Knick games while averaging a 25-point, 10-rebound double-double) ensures that replacing him is far more than a simple substitution. 

But when the Knicks are introduced at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, traditional basketball lineup rules allow them to put only one name into the starting five. According to Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News, "evidence points to" Toppin being that newcomer.

There's never a good time to lose a two-time All-Star and from purely a New York postseason perspective, one where Randle's status for the opener is clearly in doubt and fellow franchise face Jalen Brunson is working off an ailment of his own, it couldn't be worse. But considering where the Knicks reside in the standings ... safe enough to avoid Play-In purgatory and too far away to earn first-round home court ... there's time to experiment and tinker with the lineup, perhaps test combinations one normally wouldn't see on Madison Square Garden hardwood (such as the bench-heavy five that closed out Randle's departure game, a crucial 101-92 victory over the Miami Heat). 

For Toppin, it might be time to get a little selfish.

Chosen eighth overall in 2020, it's safe to say that Toppin (down to 6.3 points a game and a career-worst 42 percent output from the field) has not lived up to his top-ten billing. Who's to blame for that depends on who you ask: the Dayton alum has built a solid cult among New York fans, perhaps via his collegiate reputation, ones who blame head coach Tom Thibodeau for not giving him enough time. Among the top ten picks from 2020, only Jalen Smith and the injured-plagued James Wiseman have played fewer minutes than Toppin over the past three seasons. While it's hard to find absolute Thibodeau apologists among the Knicks' fanbase, others believe it's Toppin's own fault he hasn't cracked the primary stages of the lineup. 

Even with the 6-foot-9, 220-lb. Toppin best built to take over for Randle, Thibodeau hinted at a committee-style approach to make up for his minutes, showing relatively little focus on a potential prime opportunity to see what the third-year man can bring to NBA hardwood. 

"We have a lot of confidence in Obi, we have a lot of confidence in Josh Hart at the four, and Jericho (Sims) can play the four as well," Thibodeau declared per Ian Begley of SNY, hinting that Sims would be included in the established nine-man group. "It’s different but it’s still very effective.”

The final five games will serve as the end of a curious season for Toppin, one plagued by injury (missing 15 games between December and January with a knee injury) and inconsistency (having sunk a career-best 69 triples but hitting less than 33 percent of his tries). Though Toppin hasn't fully vanished from Thibodeau's nine-man rotation in place since early December, he's playing fewer minutes than in his sophomore season (14.4 per game compared to 17.1). 

That doesn't exactly bode well for Toppin's long-term NBA prospects. Some might even find it surprising that he's even considered for taking over Randle's spot considering Josh Hart's instant immersion into the New York culture and movement. Nowadays, Toppin's name often appears in hypothetical trades rather than the top of box scores, hinting his metropolitan days are numbered as the Knicks presumably seek another capable ball-handler that will push them into the Eastern penthouse this summer.

It's increasingly clear that Toppin doesn't appear to be a part of that championship vision. But if the coming weeks are too late to convince the Knicks he's worth keeping around, he has one last chance to fulfill the expectations placed upon him when he was the eighth name called in 2020. 

Interestingly enough, Toppin is no stranger to ending the year on a high note: forced into meaningless games as the doomed Knicks played out the stretch last season, averaging 27.2 points and shooting 55 percent. He capped things off with consecutive career-bests in scoring, including 42 in the season-finale over playoff-bound Toronto.

Unlike so many would-be draft washouts, Toppin's drama hasn't extended to his teammates, even as he potentially plays for his future NBA livelihood. He maintains a strong relationship with several of his teammates, who are undoubtedly excited to see what he can offer over these final hours. Toppin remains one of the lively cheerleaders on the Knicks bench and continues to hold a strong friendship with fellow reserve Immanuel Quickley. 

Style points have defined the highlight reels of Toppin's NBA career: the winter injury, for example, denied him a chance to protect his title at the Slam Dunk Contest. More will be needed, however, to convince the Knicks, and perhaps others, that he's capable of the major minutes. Playing Randle-style basketball, mixing his newfound love of outside shooting with the ability to secure big rebounds would go a long way to do that. 

“I feel like we play very fast. I definitely know if both of us are on the court, the rebounding is the biggest key, we can focus on that,” Toppin said to Peter Botte of the New York Post of potentially playing with Randle when he was struggling for minutes in January. “If we focus on that, we can be dangerous.

“Whatever Coach decides ... I’m cool with and I’m just going to do my job. Anything I can do to help the team I’m going to do.”

There are at least 240 minutes left in Toppin's career before whatever playoff action awaits. Whether his priorities linger with himself or the Knicks remains to be seen. If he impresses all sides, an exciting spring run ... and summer bonuses ... could arrive on all sides.

Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags

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Geoff Magliocchetti
GEOFF MAGLIOCCHETTI

Editor-In-Chief at All Knicks

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