Future Watch: Immanuel Quickley Basketball Cards, New York Knicks – Quickley has been one of the intriguing surprises of the 2020 NBA Draft class, but true believers in fate aren’t surprised at the production that he’s brought to New York this season: after all, he was born during the 1999 NBA Finals – the last time that the Knicks played on the game’s biggest stage.
Quickley’s time on the US team in the 2017 FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup under coach John Calipari prefaced his time under Coach Cal at Kentucky. Atypical of many Wildcat prospects, Quickley stuck around for a second season in 2019-20 and attained SEC Player of the Year honors while scoring 16.4 points per game and 4.4 rebounds per game, solidifying his status as an above-average rebounding guard. And yet, at 6’3″, albeit with a 6’9″ wingspan, Quickley profiled as a combo guard heading into the NBA, leading to questions about his ability to truly fit into either guard spot and mild surprise in some quarters that he did not tumble into the second round.
However, coming onto an unsettled Knick roster meant that Quickley would have a clear path to earning minutes if he could prove himself worthy of them – and his defensive skills would be sure to catch the eye of shutdown connoisseur and Head Coach Tom Thibodeau. Quickley’s 22 points and five steals against Cleveland in the preseason finale on December 18 were not quite enough to lock down a place in the rotation, but they placed him just on the cusp. 16 points in 19 minutes against Atlanta on January 4 represented another step forward, but that game was followed by a brutal 2-for-23 stretch from the field across three games.
However, those low moments simply laid the groundwork for the biggest shocking eruption for New York since the Jeremy Lin mania of nine years earlier: a three-game stretch posting 19, 23 and 17 from January 13-17 before notching 31 against Portland on January 24 and 25 each against Cleveland and the LA Lakers at the end of the month and 25 also against Sacramento on February 25.
Neither Quickley’s minutes nor his production across this season have been uniformly consistent, but he has proven already to be what the historically poor-drafting Knicks have long needed in a rookie: a player who has already demonstrated that he can be the foundation of a winning team when the time comes.
Immanuel Quickley rookie cards have appeared in 2020-21 sets, including, most recently, Certified.
Future Watch: Sabrina Ionescu Basketball Cards, New York Liberty – Stats
| Season | Age | Tm | Lg | Pos | G | GS | MP | FG | FGA | FG% | 3P | 3PA | 3P% | 2P | 2PA | 2P% | eFG% | FT | FTA | FT% | ORB | DRB | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | PF | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020-21 | 21 | NYK | NBA | PG | 31 | 0 | 18.6 | 3.7 | 9.4 | .395 | 1.7 | 4.5 | .384 | 2.0 | 4.9 | .405 | .486 | 3.0 | 3.2 | .940 | 0.4 | 1.9 | 2.3 | 2.4 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 1.0 | 2.1 | 12.2 |
| Career | NBA | 31 | 0 | 18.6 | 3.7 | 9.4 | .395 | 1.7 | 4.5 | .384 | 2.0 | 4.9 | .405 | .486 | 3.0 | 3.2 | .940 | 0.4 | 1.9 | 2.3 | 2.4 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 1.0 | 2.1 | 12.2 |
Future Watch: Immanuel Quickley Basketball Cards, New York Liberty – Other Resources
- Immanuel Quickley NBA.com Player Profile
- Immanuel Quickley – Secondary Market Pricing
- Beckett Card Catalog – Immanuel Quickley Basketball Cards
Future Watch: Immanuel Quickley, New York Knicks – Image Gallery
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