NBA Draft: Grading every first-round pick after rookie year

NBA Draft: Grading every first-round pick after rookie year: 8. Obi Toppin

Stats: 

• 4.1 points
• 2.2 rebounds
• 49.8 field goal percentage

Obi Toppin was never supposed to be there when the New York Knicks were making their selection with the eighth pick in the 2020 NBA Draft. Toppin was considered a top-five draft pick and there was even outside speculation that he could go number one overall.

Regardless of that, Toppin fell right into the hands of the Knicks. At first, the fanbase was in love. They peeled out his college footage and watched him dunk on multiple defenders and knockdown numerous mid-range shots. With that said, once he donned a Knicks uniform, it was as though Toppin forgot how to play.

Head coach Tom Thibodeau has never been known for playing young guys a ton of minutes but whenever Toppin stepped onto the court for his 11 minutes on average, he appeared lost on defense and clueless on what to do on the offensive end.

Too many times did Toppin throw up airballs and lose the ball. He did shoot 49.8 percent from the field but with only 3.4 attempts and with virtually all of them coming right near the basket, it wasn’t entirely surprising to see how efficient he was this past season.

After averaging 4.1 points per game, Toppin is already considered by some to be a bust. He did, however, have a few bright moments in the playoffs where he averaged 6.4 points per game on 52.2 percent from the field but still, as a top ten pick, New Yorkers were expecting much more. Granted, Julius Randle, the team’s All-Star power forward had one of the best regular seasons in franchise history but there was no reason why Toppin couldn’t beat out Taj Gibson in the rotation.

We won’t declare him a bust as most have but year one was a failure.

Grade: F