How Obi Toppin can help the Indiana Pacers
Newly acquired Indiana Pacers forward Obi Toppin was drafted eighth overall in the 2020 NBA Draft, but he ranks 26th among his draft class in total minutes. Despite the New York Knicks thinking Toppin had enough talent to be selected in the lottery, they rarely gave him chances.
In Indiana, that should change. Toppin has the skill and potential to play much more often with the blue and gold, and they are light on experience at the power forward position. "Nothing is going to be handed to me. Everything is going to have to be worked for," Toppin said of his situation with the Pacers.
Toppin joins a roster that only has Jordan Nwora and Jarace Walker in the mix for minutes at the four spot. He should be able to get consistent chances within that group. Walker will almost certainly get decent minutes, and Nwora is working on changing his body and improving so that he can get on the floor. But Toppin should still be featured in the Pacers rotation.
That will be good for the young forward, and it will be good for Indiana. Despite not getting much playing time with the Knicks, the three-year pro was productive. The stats prove it.
49 NBA players averaged 17 points and 6.4 rebounds per 36 minutes last season. Toppin was one of them. Of that group, only nine played fewer than 1200 minutes, and Toppin fell into that group. Despite playing well on a per-minute basis, the 25-year old forward didn't get much playing time.
That won't be true next year. "Indiana's vision is just going to be playing to my strengths," Toppin said of his new team.
Opportunity will be helpful for the young forward, and there are many ways he can help his new team during his chances. The most obvious one is his transition game.
Last season, the Dayton product averaged 1.28 points per possession in transition, per NBA.com. He finished in the 79.3 percentile among all players in the open floor, and the Pacers love to run. They were second in transition frequency last season.
"It's no secret, everybody knows what I do best on the court, run the floor. Energy guy," Toppin explained of his skill set. "This is a young group who likes to run, one of the fastest teams, if not the fastest, in the league."
In transition is where Toppin will link up well with All-Star guard Tyrese Haliburton. The two have already started to form a bond despite not playing a single game together for the Pacers yet.
Head coach Rick Carlisle shared that he is excited about how Toppin can fit in transition, too. The athletic forward will boost the team in one of its most common play types.
Toppin's talents expand beyond his ability to fly up and down the court, though. He can do more beneficial things, especially on the offensive end.
One area where the Brooklyn native's game is growing is from beyond the arc. He just ballooned his three-point percentage from barely over 30% to 34.4% this past year, and his spot up percentile ranking ended up at 48.1. He isn't a knockdown threat from deep, but he's serviceable from deep in a way that he wasn't during his first two seasons.
He leveraged that outside shot into more drives and finishes. When defenders would close out hard because of Toppin's threes, he would occasionally shot fake and drive right past them to the bucket.
Last season, New York added Jalen Brunson, and that improved the team's passing and playmaking. That helped Toppin get more good looks, doubly so because he is an excellent cutter. He ranked in the 83rd percentile among all players on cuts last year, per NBA.com, and averaged 1.47 points per possession in those moments. That's excellent, and those opportunities will be there playing next to Haliburton in the Pacers high-speed system.
The springy forward lives above the rim, so he provides a vertical spacing element that will complement the Pacers. It will pair well with Myles Turner — a sweet-shooting big man — Haliburton, Buddy Hield, Andrew Nembhard, and more.
Last year, Toppin knocked down 73.6% of his shots from 0-3 feet, and that figure is 72.4% for his career. He's able to get a lot of dunks, which are high-percentage shots, and he has improved his ability to finish layups. Toppin should be an excellent fit in the Pacers system.
Defensively, the former lottery pick needs work. He has the athleticism to stay in front of a lot of guys who play his position, but his awareness and agility hold him back on that end of the floor. If Toppin wants major minutes, he's going to have to improve on defense.
He's also going to have to improve his pick-and-roll game. He was just okay as both a ball handler and screener last year, and he needs to be better in this common action. Toppin has some key growth areas.
"I've got a lot of learning to do. I've got to work on my game every single day," he said earlier in the offseason.
But his current skills, especially on offense, are strong. Toppin can find space, attack it, and finish plays extremely well for someone of his experience level. It will now be up to the Pacers to explore the rest of his game and see what else he can provide.
"I feel like this fresh start for me is going to be great," Toppin shared. Heading into a contract year, the young forward got traded at a good time. He has a chance to prove that he's a rotation-level player after not getting consistent minutes in New York, and the Pacers will give him the opportunities to show that he can fit and help their team.
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