Immanuel Quickley Praises Raptors Organization & Shares Advice From Raptors Coach

Immanuel Quickley hadn’t looked himself early Wednesday night.

The recently acquired Toronto Raptors guard had missed his first four shots against the Memphis Grizzlies and something was off. Raptors coach Darko Rajaković had seen enough.

He pulled Quickley aside for a word.

The message from Toronto’s coach was something Quickley had never heard before.

“He pulled me aside while the game was going on and said, ‘You're not having fun. Have fun,’” Quickley recalled to reporters post-game. “I've never really had a coach do that.”

If you believe the story, that’s when everything began to click for Quickley. He made eight of his next 14 shots, leading Toronto with a team-high 26 points.

“He told me that. Then I started skipping,” said Quickley whose three-point celebration involves a joyful skip back on defense.

It’s been less than a week since Toronto acquired Quickley but the Raptors have made an impression on the 24-year-old restricted free agent-to-be.

“The whole organization has made it really easy, to be honest,” he said. “Family-environment, the way the guys have accepted me, showing me different things, coaches, trainers, everybody, top to bottom and this is a top tier organization. So it makes it really easy for me to be honest, the basketball part.”

For all the success Tom Thibodeau has had as a coach, the New York Knicks headman isn’t known for being warm and fuzzy. He’s a tough defense-first old-school coach closer to Nick Nurse on the coaching spectrum than Rajaković.

For Quickley, the Raptors have been refreshing. The players have been welcoming, the veterans Thad Young and Garrett Temple have been great to work with, and the coaching staff has been helpful.

The Raptors have been pretty thrilled with Quickley too.

“He fits great. It's just a point guard, a guard that can do so much with the ball. His shooting is really something that makes a difference for us,” Rajaković said. “Teams are constantly going over (screens) on him which just creates opportunities everywhere on the floor.”

So far, the trade looks like a win-win for everyone involved. Quickley has brought some much-needed offensive firepower to Toronto and Anunoby has been a huge help in New York where he’s been a plus-54 in 69 minutes through two Knicks wins.