Ranking Leon Rose’s three best and worst moves as Knicks President

Worst Move #1: Drafting Obi Toppin 8th overall.

In his first draft as president, Leon Rose selected New York native Obi Toppin 8th overall. Toppin had surprised everyone with his breakout season at Dayton, winning National Player of the Year with averages of 20 points and 8 rebounds per game on 63% shooting.

The front office must’ve thought his high-flying dunks and explosive drives to the basket would be a nice addition to a young Knicks team looking to give the fans some excitement. While this was reasonable thinking at the time, they probably weren’t accounting for Julius Randle’s breakout the following season, leaving Toppin with an undesirable role as Randle’s backup.

Toppin would ultimately spend the majority of his tenure with the Knicks watching from the sidelines, with occasional flashes of productivity in the rare event that Randle was out. The most impressive of these performances was when he had back-to-back 40-point games to close the 2021–22 season.

That was nice, but the time he spent as a low-usage role player wasn’t doing Toppin or the team any favors. Finally, he was sent to the Indiana Pacers this summer for minimal draft capital, a sad but inevitable ending to his time with New York.