Are New York Knicks Using Immanuel Quickley Correctly?

With the injuries in the New York Knicks' backcourt, seeing Immanuel Quickley come off the New York Knicks bench has been a tad perplexing.

Watching Immanuel Quickley's 2023-24 season is perhaps akin to viewing the "Star Wars" prequels for New York Knicks fans, namely through the saga of Anakin Skywalker and the Jedi: it's hard, perhaps downright impossible, to view their respective heroics knowing the tragedy and loss that comes later.

The Force has been strong with Quickley, the Knicks' reliable sixth man, in the early stages of this season: through 13 games, the fourth-year man has averaged 15.5 points and 3.6 assists, which would be season-long career-bests. 

Quickley's season has worked out for him in a downright poetic manner: New York's ongoing five-game road trip felt like home for Quickley on Friday, as the Maryland native returned to the DMV area to face the Washington Wizards. In front of a crowd that included his mother Nitrease, Quickley posted a season-best 27 points in a 120-99 New York victory.

Anything Quickley accomplishes this season, however, will come with questions attached after he and the Knicks failed to come to terms on a long-term extension before the final year on his rookie deal tipped off. There's plenty of time to figure out those queries but something more intriguing lingers in the Knicks' system. 

Quickley (5) guards Jordan Poole in Friday's win over Washington / Geoff Burke, USA TODAY SPORTS

Should No. 5 be in The Five?

Conversations over whether Quickley should move from the Knicks' sixth to fifth man have begun earlier than usual in the wake of his scorching start. Those debates will only amplify in the wake of injuries to Quentin Grimes and RJ Barrett, the latter of whom returned to his residency in the opening lineup on Saturday in Charlotte. 

Quickley has mostly come off the bench in his NBA career, and that's perfectly fine: plenty of reliable reserves (i.e. Jamal Crawford, Lou Williams) have left lasting legacies as depth stars. But many bench legends often established that role after failed flirtation with the opening five. Crawford, for example, was a staple in the openers for both the mid-aughts Knicks and post-Michael Jordan Chicago Bulls.

In contrast, Quickley responded very well to emergency insertions, and one could argue that he played even better than he did off the bench. Called upon for a career-high 21 starts last season in the wake of Barrett and Jalen Brunson injuries, Quickley averaged 22.6 points (nearly 10 more than his production off the bench) and shot just under 47 percent from the field. The Knicks posted a 12-9 record in his starts, which included a 55-minute, 38-point, double-overtime magnum opus in Boston last March.

For a Knicks team that needs to get off to good starts in the top-heavy Eastern Conference, why not place Quickley on the floor immediately? The Kentucky alum has, after all, been one of the most consistent performers in big games. On opening against the aforementioned Boston Celtics, Quickley's 24 in relief helped keep pace while Brunson and Julius Randle worked off early rust.

Putting Quickley in the starting five could also serve as a selling point if and when long-term negotiations re-open: a feature penned by Jake Fischer of Yahoo! Sports noted that Quickley kept a notebook with the mantra of “I’m a starting point guard" with him through last year's runner-up finish in the Sixth Man vote. 

Though he offered the boilerplate response of willing to "do whatever the team needs (him) to do," frequently hearing his name over the P.A. system just before tip-off remains an unchecked item on Quickley's Association to-do list.

“I don’t want that to be what this is,” Quickley said. “I don’t want everybody to think I just want to be a microwave guy. I don’t want to give that impression for my career. Because, eventually, I want to be a starter down the line."

A Sixth Lord? Knicks, Quickley Bust Boston Sans Brunson, Rise For 9th Straight Win

Quickley's Situation Show How Far Knicks Have Come

Even with the Barrett and Grimes ailments, Quickley has not appeared in the starting five this season, the honors instead bestowed to Donte DiVincenzo and Josh Hart. Each Villanova alum is in the midst of his first full season with the Knicks and each has made a unique impact in early starts. 

The level of competition certainly leaves something to be desired, the Knicks swept a traveling back-to-back from Washington and Charlotte in wire-to-wire fashion. Hart has capitalized on the rebounding potential shown during his American run at the FIBA Basketball World Cup over the summer while DiVincenzo has brought defense and outside abilities to the fold. While no one's ready to include the Knicks among the Eastern Conference's finest just yet, the moves to board these Wildcats long-term have perhaps one of the most underrated, if not impactful, happenings of the NBA offseason based on early returns. 

Quickley's continued efforts off the bench have showcased the Knicks' depth: at 15.5 points per game, Quickley is averaging half of what 11 other teams' units are doing collectively. Why would the Knicks use that early and sacrifice a fresh weapon that could be used when rivals are reeling and tiring?

Head coach Tom Thibodeau praised Quickley for handling the situation well despite the lack of relative prime time minutes.

“The one thing we ask everybody is to sacrifice,” Thibodeau said, per Zach Braziller of the New York Post. “You could make a case that Quick is a starter, Donte is a starter, Josh [Hart] is a starter. They’re sacrificing that for the team.”

One could argue that having a far-more-than-sporadic 20-point scorer come off the bench is hardly a sacrifice, but Quickley 

“It’s (not) necessarily how long you’re in the game, but what you do while you’re in the game that matters,” Quickley added in the same report. “I try to keep that mindset.”

So far, so good, say the Knicks, who return to action on Monday against the Minnesota Timberwolves (8 p.m. ET, MSG)