Could This Player On The New York Knicks Become An NBA All-Star?
The Indiana Pacers had no answer for Immanuel Quickley of the New York Knicks in their first game of NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Monday afternoon.
The former Kentucky Wildcat who was the 25th overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft torched the Pacers for 32 points and eight assists.
The Knicks won the game by a score of 94-86 to grab their first win after losing to the Toronto Raptors on Sunday.
While it's just Summer League, the performance Quickley had against the Pacers on Monday combined with his impressive rookie season makes for a reasonable question; could he ever be an All-Star?
His rookie season stats: 11.4 points, 2.1 rebounds and 2.0 assists on 38.9% shooting from the three-point range.
Jaw dropping?
Not even close.
That being said, he was far from the first option on a really good Knicks team that was the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference with a record of 41-31.
He played a vital role as a rookie on a team making the playoffs for the first time since 2013, which also has to count for something.
On top of that, his scoring numbers were still more than solid.
His 11.4 points per game with seventh among all rookies, but none of the other six players that averaged more points than him made the playoffs.
He also scored 20+ points in 11 different games, and 25+ points in five different games.
If he had been on a team that missed the playoffs without Derrick Rose, Julius Randle and R.J. Barrett, he probably would have averaged closer to 17 points per game.
Maybe more.
Sophomore seasons after a surprising rookie season can sometimes be hard to come by, but Quickley proved on Monday against the Pacers he's only getting better.
