Ty Lue called Immanuel Quickley a ‘special talent’ after watching him on Sunday afternoon.
Certainly, Quickley’s 25 points off the bench against the Clippers got Lue’s attention. But something Quickley did before tipoff also impressed Lue.
“After he shot (during warmups), he sat down and watched Kawhi (Leonard) shoot and work out for like 15 minutes,” Lue said. “So he’s willing to learn, he wants to learn, he wants to be great. And that’s what you want from young players,” Lue said after the Clippers withstood a challenge from the Knicks and pulled away late for a 14-point win.
Lue’s team – one of the best in the NBA – had a lot of positive things to say about Quickley, the combo guard New York selected with the No. 25 overall pick.
“His float game was off the charts for a young guy,” Paul George said, adding that Quickley’s floater was a topic of discussion among the Clippers after the game.
Something else about Quickley stood out to George on Sunday afternoon.
“I think what I love the most and it’s a hard quality to find: I thought he was fearless,” George said. “He took some big shots.”
Qiuckley scored or assisted on all of the Knicks’ points in a 12-4 run to start the fourth quarter that cut the Clippers’ lead to two points. The Clippers withstood the run and pulled away in the final six minutes of the game, but Quickley, again, provided a spark off the bench and executed during a key stretch.
If nothing else, Quickley’s afternoon on Sunday was another piece of evidence showing the Knicks may have nailed their pick late in the first round of the 2020 NBA Draft. If Quickley continues to play like this, it will impact the Knicks’ plans at the 2021 trade deadline/offseason and beyond.
Here’s Quickley on why he decided to watch Leonard before the game:
“I’m intrigued on just watching the best players and what they do, their habits. I ask a lot of questions. I’m just a really curious person. So just watching what he does, wasn’t going to really bother him or nothing, ask him questions. But just seeing how he carries himself, what type of pro he is and just really that. I was just intrigued at seeing the best players at our game and what they do.”
Quickley also got a chance to play against Lou Williams, one of the players he’s referenced when talking about those he models his game after.
He shared a message with Williams during the game.
“I just told him he was one of my favorite players. His game, just as far as how smooth he is, his offensive ability, being able to get to his spots, his floater, drawing fouls. I’ve watched a lot of synergy and YouTube highlights of him. I was trying not to foul him tonight because I knew he was just going to try to do that sweep through when he was getting in the lane, so I tried as best as I could. But just being a rookie, being able to talk to somebody like that is really cool.”
