Immanuel Quickley Appreciation Thread

[Clyde_Style]

Knicks traded this future star for souped up Reggie Bullocks. Sad.

[KnicksGadfly]

This was a cool letter. It's a damn travesty this man got less love than Obi and RJ. Seriously, this guy was built for NYC.

https://www.theplayerstribune.com/posts/immanuel-quickley-basketball-nba-new-york-knicks

I’ll start with the trade.

Obviously this is a business, but when you literally have no idea this is coming…. I mean, there were no rumors, no nothing. Just woke up from a nap on a road trip, in a random hotel room in Indiana, to a text from my agent Raymond Brothers saying, “Call me. You’re getting traded.” Direct, quick, no warning. You get a text like that, and your heart just sinks. It didn’t even feel real. It was like I was in a dream or something. Before I can even hit him back, my phone starts ringing. It’s the Knicks front office. But it wasn’t just anybody. It was one of my guys, World Wide Wes. I call him Unc. I picked up, and man…... as soon as he got on the call, he just started crying. And just like that, my career with the New York Knicks was over. I knew it was forreal.

I’m really leaving.

I finally get on the phone with Raymond, and he’s like “Sounds like it’s about to go through now.” Next thing I know my phone is just lighting up. I’m getting all these texts, calls. I had to put it on Do Not Disturb. Then I see the Woj bomb, I see the Shams tweet. I immediately called Johnnie Bryant. He’s somebody that was basically my big brother while I was with the Knicks, somebody that I talked to about anything; my relationship with God, church, my family, anything. I would go to Johnnie. So I called him. He was like, “You know what it takes, you’re built for this. Obviously it’s a business, but you have the formula to be successful.” Told me to continue to lean on God and the work ethic that got me there.

When I got to the meeting room, everybody was already there waiting. My trainers, my massage therapists, some of my teammates, media people that work with us. You could feel the emotion in the room. The vibe was heavy. Everybody’s face was just so dejected, like somebody had died. And I just started hugging everybody. But when I got to Johnnie, that’s when it hit me the hardest. I hugged him, and in that moment I realized that this person, who’s like a brother to me, that I got so used to seeing every day, I realized I’m not going to see him no more. And I don’t care who you are, how tough you think you are ... that kinda moment is just overwhelming. Man, it breaks your heart.

I went around the room, and everybody that I had a special handshake with, we just did all the handshakes one last time, one by one, because we knew it was over.

That plane ride back to New York was eerie. I’ll never forget that. The Knicks still had a game that night, and I remember sitting on the plane and putting on NBA League Pass, seeing that they were playing. I watched, and it felt like I was missing a game almost, like I was just out or something. I’m looking at all my teammates on that lil airplane screen just thinking like, Wait, am I missing a game? It was so weird. It just still didn’t feel real that I wasn’t on the team anymore.

And last but not least, I want to thank the fans for staying with us, for staying with me. I wish I could hug all of you guys. Every night you go out there on the court, you’re playing for the team above all else. But the way you guys embraced me gave me something to play for that was bigger than myself, bigger than the team. Every night, deep down I was playing for you.

I wanna end on one last memory, my favorite memory.

The Boston Celtics game, in March 2023. Jalen was out, so I found out I was starting in the morning. And it was Sunday night, ABC game. I played 55 minutes in double overtime and had 38 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. And we won. I’ll never forget, it’s second overtime, and I go down the lane and dunk it. And if you watch the clip, I’m running down the court, and it looks like I’m pointing to the bench, but I’m really pointing to Johnnie because he told me I couldn’t dunk! That was the most fun I’ve ever had in a game. I’ll never forget it. I’m sure a lot of Knicks fans won’t forget that game either.

And yeah, I guess that’s all a long way of saying that I love this city from the bottom of my heart, and that will never change. To have gotten my start here means the world to me.

These things move so fast, it’s crazy that I’m already on the road with my new family. But it wouldn’t be right to leave without saying a little something just to let y’all know that the love is mutual.

Also talks a bit about Randle helping him

[Capn'O]

he clearly still wants to be here...maybe we can play chicken with torono in RFA

We're resigning OG and won't have the loot.

[8516knicks]

From Quick's X comments it's easy to see how he and RJ fit into our NEW TEAM CULTURE. Perhaps either or both return sometime during long NBA careers.

[dakomish23]

From Quick's X comments it's easy to see how he and RJ fit into our NEW TEAM CULTURE. Perhaps either or both return sometime during long NBA careers.

It’s what I wanted even after the Hart trade. Go get OG and have them 2 with everyone else all together. Oh well.

I don’t think either will ever be back here.

[Fat Kat]

I have a feeling the Raps fans will turn on him before they turn on RJ

[KnicksGadfly]

Weird enough, it feels like the Raptors want IQ to shoot more. He’s definitely feeling out PG duties now versus his previous scorer role

[dakomish23]

IQ has struggled but we've seen he's had stretches like this at points during the season. Even had it last year. Then the final 4 months he just takes off.

[dakomish23]

IQ with above a 4 to 1 ast to to ratio so far in TOR. That would put him in the top 10 in the NBA this year.

The leader is Tyus Jones at 7.0.

[Statistician MK]

Immanuel Quickley, this season, after 12 games as a Raptor

PTS
With the Knicks .... 15.0 pts per game
With the Raptors ... 16.7 pts per game

REB
With the Knicks ...... 2.6 reb per game
With the Raptors .... 4.6 reb per game

AST
With the Knicks ...... 2.5 ast per game
With the Raptors .... 6.1 ast per game

3pt%
With the Knicks ...... 39.5 ... 3pt%
With the Raptors .... 44.4 ... 3pt%

[Fat Kat]

Immanuel Quickley, this season, after 12 games as a Raptor

PTS
With the Knicks .... 15.0 pts per game
With the Raptors ... 16.7 pts per game

REB
With the Knicks ...... 2.6 reb per game
With the Raptors .... 4.6 reb per game

AST
With the Knicks ...... 2.5 ast per game
With the Raptors .... 6.1 ast per game

3pt%
With the Knicks ...... 39.5 ... 3pt%
With the Raptors .... 44.4 ... 3pt%

I think he’ll settle in as better than Fred VanVleet and a little worse than Darius Garland.

[KnicksGadfly]

Immanuel Quickley, this season, after 12 games as a Raptor

PTS
With the Knicks .... 15.0 pts per game
With the Raptors ... 16.7 pts per game

REB
With the Knicks ...... 2.6 reb per game
With the Raptors .... 4.6 reb per game

AST
With the Knicks ...... 2.5 ast per game
With the Raptors .... 6.1 ast per game

3pt%
With the Knicks ...... 39.5 ... 3pt%
With the Raptors .... 44.4 ... 3pt%

Honestly not bad for his first time really leading, and with the transition, especially playing the same role for Thibs off the bench. What's impressive is that he's taking care of the ball, too, while receiving more attention.

I think he can get to that efficient 20+ ppg with good defense, solid passing, strong efficiency. Is it true that the Raptors are trying to get him to take more shots?

[Statistician MK]

Is it true that the Raptors are trying to get him to take more shots?

Yep... The coach Darko Rajaković told him many times to not be afraid if he missed the shot...
And this one:
“Darko pulled me aside while the game was going on and said: 'You're not having fun. Have fun,' ” Quickley said. “I've never really had a coach do that.”

[Statistician MK]

Immanuel Quickley, this season!

[spree2kawhi]

Immanuel Quickley, this season!

I’d rather have OG.

[Fat Kat]

Immanuel Quickley, this season!

5 years/$145M. Pay that man Toronto

[KnicksGadfly]

Immanuel Quickley, this season!

Good to see. Honestly, was really confused to see how many haters emerged when IQ was traded. Was it just Knicks homerism? Or did they always not like the kid and just didn’t say it? Anyway, hope he can continue to find a balance.

If you guys are a bit worried about IQ’s defense, I think you might need to wait a bit. A lot of IQ’s abilities on defense came from his ability to study and call out plays, which was definitely impacted by being in a new environment and the personnel. Think it’s fair to question if having the ball more is affecting him. I still think best case scenario for him is a Lowry or Jrue Holiday or Derrick White type of player, but knowing IQ, he’s probably a bit more ambitious

[robillionaire]

Immanuel Quickley, this season!

I am a big Quickley fan but this totally leaves out the context that his MPG have gone from 24.0 to 33.1. In fact he averaged more points per 36 mins with the Knicks (22.5 down to 19.0 points per 36 on Toronto) his fg% and ts% are down from what he did on the Knicks. But his assists and rebounds per 36 are up. Of course this is because he is playing at PG more instead of off ball. I knew he was capable of starting at PG (we saw him play great last year in games Brunson missed) and am glad he’s getting an opportunity to start somewhere

[Capn'O]

Immanuel Quickley, this season!

I am a big Quickley fan but this totally leaves out the context that his MPG have gone from 24.0 to 33.1. In fact he averaged more points per 36 mins with the Knicks (22.5 down to 19.0 points per 36 on Toronto) his fg% and ts% are down from what he did on the Knicks. But his assists and rebounds per 36 are up. Of course this is because he is playing at PG more instead of off ball. I knew he was capable of starting at PG (we saw him play great last year in games Brunson missed) and am glad he’s getting an opportunity to start somewhere

Yup his PER is actually down with the Raps and he's been less efficient. Not that it's a great stat but it does normalize production over minutes. RJ's consistently efficient play has been more of a surprise to me than Quick producing in an expanded role.

That said he's still playing well, and as you say playing the actual starting point role. He's a great guy and I hope he continues to thrive. But most of us expected good things from him.

[KnixtapeH20]

I have a feeling the Raps fans will turn on him before they turn on RJ

RJ is not only "settling in" he's becoming the franchise... the home town hero since Barnes is not what they expected this season