Did World Wide Wes help save the Knicks? It would appear that way. The Knicks finally somehow feel like they are headed in the right direction. Scoring a young player like Immanuel Quickley has a lot to do with it.
Basketball Icon World Wide Wes refused to take no for an answer. He pleaded time and time again that the Knicks needed to draft the former Kentucky point guard.
“We need Quickley, get Quickley,” William Wesley repeated, over and over and over and over. Wesley — the ubiquitous consultant/adviser/star-whisperer/power broker whose reputation has earned him the moniker “World Wide Wes” — had joined the Knicks as an executive vice president and senior adviser in June and had spent the months since pushing Kentucky guard Immanuel Quickley at every turn. He knew that the Boston Celtics, picking at No. 26, had worked out Quickley and come away impressed. He was worried they’d steal his guy. He wanted the Knicks to pounce.
Others in the war room weren’t so sure. The team’s scouts had a handful of players ranked ahead of Quickley, who was widely projected as a second-round pick. Brock Aller, the recently hired vice president and chief strategist, believed if the Knicks were going to reach for a player, they should at least trade back a few slots.
Quickley has been a sensation for the Knicks. He’s on Jarrod’s rookie rankings for a reason. His shooting percentage isn’t very high (38.9%) but he’s been a great spark off the bench. Quickley is averaging 12.2 points per game in just over 18 minutes of action.
My only question here is this story looks like it’s meant to disparage the Celtics. I’m not quite sure why. Hey, if they’re that rent free in their heads, go for it. Maybe the Celtics were interested. However, the guy they got (Payton Pritchard) has probably been better. He’s more efficient thus far at minimum.
