The New York Knicks announced on Friday that Jacob Toppin and DaQuan Jeffries would be assigned to the franchise's G League club in Westchester.
With the NBA roster in a constant state of flux thanks to numerous injuries, it's worth considering what, if anything, the transfers could mean for Manhattan.
To get it out of the way, fans likely shouldn't take this as a sign that OG Anunoby and Julius Randle are coming back. While there's hope that both could be back on the floor before this new month lets out, there are still a few medical hurdles for each player to leap before taking their spots back in the Knicks' starting five.
The Knicks could also perhaps be keeping an eye on the dwindling buyout market. If New York is planning to make a move, they better do it in a hurry, as March 1 is the final day that a player can be waived by one team before joining a playoff push with another. One player that might've looked attractive to the Knicks in that regard was center Mike Muscala, especially with Mitchell Robinson still out and Isaiah Hartenstein still nursing a sore Achilles. The former Detroit Piston instead opted to return to Oklahoma City, per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.
In the end, the most likely scenario is that the Knicks are simply trying to get Toppin and Jeffries some extra minutes. Neither has received much time at the NBA level as is, both being inserted when the Knicks' NBA roster has been decimated by either injuries or transactional waiting periods.
Both men are currently working on 10-day NBA contracts which will expire soon and they can only sign one more with New York for the rest of this season (which is why Taj Gibson is no longer with the team). Westchester has a pair of weekend games coming up against the Motor City Cruise, Detroit's affiliate, with the doubleheader tipping off on Saturday late afternoon (4 p.m. ET, MSG/Tubi), which should the pair plenty of work moving forward.
Saturday is set to mark Toppin's first game with Westchester since he partook in the Slam Dunk Contest over All-Star Weekend in Indianapolis, where he placed third behind fellow G Leaguer Mac McClung (Osceola) and Boston Celtics All-Star Jaylen Brown. Toppin is currently averaging 21.9 points and 8.6 rebounds in 13 regular season appearances with the team. Jeffries, putting up 23.2 points and 6.3 boards, has been in and out of the Knicks' system in each of the past two seasons and has played 13 games with the big club.
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