'He's A Dog. You Gotta Be A Player To Understand It.' - It Took 1 Game For Derrick Rose To Hype Up Future Hall Of Famer Immanuel Quickley

[Source] - The two of them catalyzed a 15-0 second-quarter run for the Knicks and seemed to complement each other. Quickley finished with seven points in 21 minutes.

“Man, it shouldn’t be too hard with him,” Rose said. “We’re similar. He’s getting double-teamed in his rookie year. There ain’t too many rookies that’s getting that kind of attention. For him to see that kind of early, it’s just going to make his game better. The game is going to slow down more, and he listens. That’s the greatest thing about him. With that, you always got room for improvement. And he’s a dog. He’s a dog. I can’t explain it. You gotta be a player to understand it. If we’re in a fight I know he’s fighting. So it’s going down.”

Hold on a second, gotta do the up tuck here. Listen, I can sit here and hype up Immanuel Quickley like I have been since the moment the Knicks drafted him. Now I have a former MVP, the youngest MVP ever and a dude who was AWESOME before injury hyping him up after one game. That matters. This is also important for the growth of Quickley. I've said it before, but he's the future of the Knicks. He's their long term solution at the point guard position and you can run him on/off the ball. This is what I want to see out of the Knicks. Win games, compete but more importantly set shit up for the future. If Rose can help with that by helping Quickley's game grow, the trade was worth it. It's not like the Knicks gave up anything for him. A second round pick and Dennis Smith Jr., who was about to go play in the G League bubble. 

We're in uncharted territory for the Knicks. They actually have a plan. Now if they stick to the plan is what we'll wait and see but with Leon Rose and Wes there, there's at least a plan. Step 1) Draft Kentucky players. Step 2) Balance young guys with vets on cheap deals. Step 3) NBA title. Shit, we haven't seen the Knicks sign a rookie to a second deal since Charlie Ward. CHARLIE WARD. Immanuel Quickley HAS to be that guy. He's one of the 5 best rookies right now, maybe even a top-3 rookie right now. That's how good he's been. 

I am fully aware that things can go south quickly because this is still the Knicks we are talking about and James Dolan is still running the show. But for the first time in years, the Knicks are finally fun to watch. After dealing with absolute horseshit for the last few decades, I'm going to get excited about a rookie being the steal of the draft. I'm going to get excited about Derrick Rose hyping him up after one game. I'm going to be excited about being one game out of the playoffs nearly halfway through the year as the Mavs suck ass and we have their unprotected first round pick.