Notable Knicks player could get traded amid frustration with team?

Oct 30, 2022; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; New York Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau in the third quarter against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

One prominent rotation player might not be seeing out what the New York Knicks are building.

Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News reported Tuesday that Knicks forward Obi Toppin is one of the team’s main players to monitor as trade season approaches. Bondy adds that Toppin, the Knicks’ lottery pick in 2020, was frustrated at times with his role this past season.

The report also says that a league executive has tapped Toppin’s potential trade value as a late first-rounder in this year’s draft. But Bondy notes too that the Knicks may be hesistant to trade Toppin as he has several strong supporters in the front office, including executive William Wesley. You can read Bondy’s full report on the Toppin situation here.

The 25-year-old Toppin is a long, athletic forward who plays with force and can extend a defense out to the three-point arc. Toppin even competed in the Slam Dunk Contest at All-Star Weekend this year. But Toppin saw fewer than 16 minutes per game on the season (both regular season and playoffs), and probably will be stuck in a bench role for as long as the similarly-sized Julius Randle is in town.

There are definitely a lot of mouths to feed in the Knicks frontcourt as it currently stands. Toppin, who will be a restricted free agent in 2024 if not extended by the mid-October deadline this year, is not the only Knicks big who seems to be upset about his usage.