Knicks’ Immanuel Quickley Proving His Worth To The Team

The biggest storyline for the New York Knicks heading into the 2023-24 NBA regular season was the status of guard, Immanuel Quickley. The two sides had until the eve of the regular season to hammer out a rookie scale extension, but no deal was reached.

That means Quickley will be heading toward restricted free agency in the summer of 2024. There are already teams preparing to potentially steal Quickley from the Knicks with a massive offer sheet, as his price tag has continued going up based on his performance this season.

Many people thought it would be a huge mistake for the Knicks to not get a deal done with their versatile sixth man, who was reportedly seeking $25 million annually. New York was at about $18-20 million, as a sizable gap remained between the sides and was a big reason why a deal didn’t get done.

Some people hypothesized that a deal wasn’t done because Quickley is seeking out an opportunity to be a starter. As long as Jalen Brunson is on the roster, the starting point guard spot will be his with Quickley coming off the bench behind him. 

His position in New York seems to be point guard, as he wasn’t tabbed as the replacement for Quentin Grimes at shooting guard. That role went to Donte DiVincenzo instead. It is a somewhat new role for Quickley, who had shared ball-handling duties with other players in his first three seasons in the NBA. But, that role is now his, solely, and he has thrived.

On the season, Quickley is averaging 15 points per game to go along with 2.8 rebounds and 2.7 assists in 24 minutes. Despite seeing a drop in his playing time, he has upped his efficiency and is putting up career numbers in numerous categories.

According to Tommy Beer on X, formerly Twitter, Quickley is putting up career-highs in scoring, true shooting percentage, PER and win shares per 48 minutes. He has worked tirelessly on improving his ball-handling and playmaking and it has resulted in a career-low turnover rate as well.