Immanuel Quickley is the key to Toronto winning the OG Anunoby-RJ Barrett trade

On Saturday morning, the New York Knicks and Toronto Raptors put their litigation aside long enough to agree on a trade exchanging OG Anunoby, Precious Achiuwa and Malachi Flynn with RJ Barrett, Immanuel Quickley and a 2024 second round pick.

Since then, the majority of the discourse over the Knicks and Raptors trade has centered around two players in Barrett and Anunoby. The headliner is a 3-and-D wing in Anunoby, who has held a lease on the trade block for years, but has the ideal attributes for a Thibs lineup as a perennial All-Defense forward with a 7-foot-2 wingspan who sucks all the oxygen out of his pocket of the floor defensively, won’t dribble away possessions and provides efficient buckets.

The other is Barrett, a former top lottery pick in his class whom outsiders are convinced are this close to cracking the code to their full potential. To date, Barrett’s rickety shooting and unsophisticated shot creation has prevented that from happening. Barrett ran out gas so short of lofty expectations for him, the Knicks threw in multiple assets to jettison him to Toronto in exchange for a specialist with a below average PER, who barely eclipses 15 points a night. HIs greatest value to the Raptors is as a source of national pride on the eve of the 2024 Olympics. It’s surprising Masai Ujuri hasn’t put feelers out for Andrew Wiggins in a Pascal Siakam deal yet to complete the Team Canada glutton of switchable two-way forwards.

However, the sleeper pick may be Quickley taking the shackles off in Toronto’s offense and joining the starting lineup. Whereas Anunoby wanted out of Toronto and abandoned Klutch Sports so that he could pursue a more significant offensive role elsewhere, it’s Quickley who will be the biggest beneficiary. His arrival also tidies up a messy backcourt that subjected fans to a post-VanVleet season of Dennis Schroder operating the point-guard controls.

For three years, Quickley glided on Madison Square Garden’s floor and became a cult legend despite being wedged into the limbo between Tom Thibodeau’s affinity for Taj Gibson and his disgust with Evan Fournier. In Quickley’s penultimate game as a Knick, he scored 22 points in 25 minutes. In the final minutes, Quickley was benched and the Knicks sputtered to a loss. Quickley’s ceiling isn’t as high as SGA’s. He doesn’t possess the size, post-up moves or midrange game, but his former Kentucky teammate Tyrese Maxey, is a more apt comparison.

Quickley was the more natural scorer, Maxey was the prototypical slashing point guard and is a year younger than Quickley. who has reached the All-Star axis on his developmental curve. Quickley’s ascent was halted by Brunson capturing the job Quickley was being primed for and was typecast as a situational bench spark plug.

A year ago, Brooklyn discovered that Phoenix’s 3-and-D wing Mikal Bridges’ ceiling was more than just a corner 3 shooter on a contender. Instead, he emerged as an All-Star-caliber scorer. That’s the upside for Quickley. There’s also a possibility he morphs into Toronto’s Jordan Poole, but don’t bet on it.

Quickley’s decision making is more sound, his dribble set ups are precise and he’s been conditioned against pulling the trigger indiscriminately or else Thibs would have superglued him to the bench or sentenced him to a long G League spell. That could change now that the restraints are presumably off. Toronto doesn’t have many options behind Quickley, but as a starter last season, he logged five assists, 22 points, preserved his above average true shooting percentage and distributed five assists per contest. There aren’t many efficient score-first guards who can lead their teams in plus-minus for three straight years, possess an extensive crossover bag and who pinches onto opposing players like a fish stuck in plastic.

While Maxey has been given the runway to make mistakes, learn while developing his game and reached new heights this season, Quickley has been cocooned in New York. After finishing second in Sixth Man of the Year voting, Quickley froze under the playoff lights and his minutes plummeted by nearly 18 percent at the start of this season..

Quickley will either sink or swim without the ball-dominant Brunson in his way or Thibodeau breathing down his neck. He’s improved incrementally from the Kentucky prospect who entered the league shooting 40 percent from beyond the arc on a bevy of assisted numbers, but connected on just 38 percent of his 2-point field goals.That and Quickly’s defensive acumen are what got him slapped with the 3-and-D guard label.

Critics will point to Quickley’s scoring profile and how often he settles for creating separation outside the arc because he lacks the explosive athleticism to manifest points in the paint or while being contested at the basket The difference between Quickley and Maxey is that aggressiveness, but there was also a time when the uber-efficient Brunson was peaked as a borderline All-Star floor general.

Quickley’s finishing at a near identical rate to Maxey’s 57 shooting percentage inside the paint, but has 183 fewer field goals within the heart of the defense than his Kentucky counterpart inside. That will have to change in Toronto where he’s expected to be their number one option in the backcourt. Quickley on the final year of his rookie deal before approaching restricted free agency is worth a gamble for Toronto.

Quickley’s assist rate is low, but in an offense where the ball sticks, it makes sense. The Knicks generate the fewest assists in the league and the most hard-fought for minutes. Nobody is under the impression that Quickly will evolve into a heliocentric min-SGA overnight, but in a Toronto offense that feeds scorers at nearly the rate of Indiana or Denver, the NBA’s best, Quickley’s threshold to striking the balance between creating for others and his individual scoring will be tested early.

Toronto is making the bet that Quickley was underutilized in New York and has more to offer, as he creeps towards his physical and intellectual basketball prime. In the midst of a contract year, he’s the only player in this swap with the potential, incentive and opportunity to lock in and make another leap forward.

Follow DJ Dunson on X: @cerebralsportex