The New York Knicks have selected University of Dayton forward Obi Toppin with the ___ pick in the 2020 draft.
Woj had the scoop:
New York has long been excited that Dayton’s Obi Toppin might drop to them at No. 8, sources tell ESPN. He’s almost there.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 19, 2020
Toppin, who won the Naismith Award as the 2020 college player of the year for Dayton. He’s an athletic power forward who averaged more than 20 points per game.
Our own Stingy has an extremely thorough breakdown of Toppin. The offense is legit; the defense is beyond abysmal. He can’t really move laterally and has zero awareness defending the pick-and-roll. Also, at 22 years old, he’s older than Frank Ntilikina, who is entering his fourth NBA season.
Tyrese Haliburton and Deni Avdija (surprisingly) were left on the board, as was Devin Vassell and Kira Lewis Jr. Killian Hayes was selected one pick earlier.
Toppin is represented by Knicks GM Leon Rose’s son, for what it’s worth.
Don’t worry, folks: We’ll have some more cheerful analysis of the pick tomorrow, I promise.
