by Todd Neikirk
The players in the NBA, especially those who were selected in the draft lottery, are incredibly talented. But there are only 30 teams in the league and only so many high-profile roles. Good players can often be stuck behind great players and just waiting for an opportunity.
This was the case with Obi Toppin. The power forward would regularly look very good when he had opportunities to play extended minutes for the New York Knicks. But his minutes were limited on a competitive Knicks team.
This summer, Toppin was traded to the Indiana Pacers, a squad with more minutes to offer him. So far, the high-flyer is making the most of the opportunity.
A winding pace to college stardom
Toppin would eventually develop into an NBA lottery pick, but he took an unusual path to get there. The talented prospect played high school ball in both New York and Florida, but did not receive any Division I scholarship offers. So Toppin decided to transfer to Mt. Zion Prep in Baltimore for a postgraduate year. During his time there, he grew four inches and was now on the basketball radar.
Toppin had offers from major schools like Georgetown, Minnesota and Texas Tech, but he opted instead to play for Dayton University in Ohio. After sitting out his first season, he was named the A10 Freshman in 2019.
Toppin was even better in 2020. The power forward was a consensus First-Team All-American, averaging 20 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. At the year’s end, he was named the Naismith Player of the Year. At the conclusion of the NCAA Tournament, Toppin announced that he would be entering the NBA Draft.
Selected by the Knicks
The Knicks were in the process of rebuilding their team and had made no secret of their interest in the Dayton forward. There was talk that New York could move up from their eighth slot in order to draft Toppin. In the end, they didn’t need to make a deal and their target fell right into their laps.
While Toppin was new to the Knicks in 2020, so was head coach Tom Thibodeau. And under Thibodeau, the team improved dramatically. This included Julius Randle, who the team had signed as a free agent the year before. Randle, like Toppin, was a power forward.
In his second year with the Knicks, Randle went from an under-performer to an All-NBA performer. Randle’s ascendance and Thibodeau’s habit of having his stars play big minutes meant that Toppin didn’t get as much time on the court as he would have liked.
Toppin is an athletic marvel
The NBA is filled with maybe the greatest collection of athletes in the world. And still, Toppin stands out as one of the best athletes in the league. During his first season, he was selected to participate in the NBA Slam Dunk contest, coming in second.
During his first few seasons with the Knicks, Toppin would play between 10-18 minutes a night. And into those minutes, he would showcase a whole lot of offense. The power forward would often delight the Madison Square Garden crowd and fire up his teammates with electric dunks.
But there were flaws in Toppin’s game too, which kept him from playing more minutes. Despite his athleticism, he was a poor defender who could be taken advantage of by the league’s best forwards. He also wasn’t able to develop his outside shot. Over his three seasons with the Knicks, Toppin only shot 32 percent from three and often had ugly misses.
Shining with more minutes
During the end of the 2021 season, Toppin showed what he was capable of when playing more minutes. After an injury to Randle, the forward entered the starting lineup. Over the last five games of the season, Toppin averaged 37 minutes per game.
In those games, Toppin scored 27.2 points per game. This included a 35-point game in a win over the Washington Wizards and a 42-point game in a win over the Toronto Raptors. This was a lost season for the Knicks, though, and the team did not make the playoffs.
In 2021-22, Toppin was back to serving as a backup to Randle. The power forward recorded career-high percentages from the free throw line and the three-point line, but was still only playing around 15 minutes a night.
Traded to Indiana
With Randle still heavily in the Knicks’ plans, the team decided to move on from Toppin this offseason. And Toppin ended up in Indiana, a great place for him. Unlike the Knicks, the Pacers were prepared to move the power forward into the starting lineup and give him significantly more minutes.
So far in Indiana, Toppin has started all 11 games and is averaging more than 22 minutes. He is scoring 11.1 points a game on 61.7 percent shooting and is grabbing 3.3 rebounds per contest. Toppin’s best game as a Pacer came in a recent win against the Philadelphia 76ers. The power forward scored 27 points on 12-of-15 shooting and also took down six rebounds.
Toppin is an electric talent who should have been starting somewhere in the NBA. The Pacers are currently sitting at a surprising 7-4 and Toppin has been an important part of that success. Still only 25 years old, the power forward could be an important part of Indiana’s future as well.
Originally posted on Give Me Sport