Obi Toppin is a fun basketball player with plenty to prove. He loves to get out and run in transition and is wildly entertaining when he’s able to do so, but there’s plenty of questions as to whether he can play enough defense to contribute to winning at a high level.
The Indiana Pacers are a fun basketball team with plenty to prove. They love to get out and run in transition and are wildly entertaining when they’re able to do so, but there are plenty of questions as to whether they can play enough defense to win at a high level.
Toppin is a perfect microcosm of the Pacers team as a whole, and the pairing between player and organization was an ideal match for both sides in the offseason. The Pacers were continuing their search for a long-term fit at the starting power forward position and get a shot at one in Toppin for the no-risk cost of future late second-round picks. Toppin gets an opportunity to earn a much larger role than what was ever available to him in New York being behind Julius Randle as he blossomed into an All-NBA level player. With Toppin headed to restricted free agency next summer, it’s perfect timing for a chance to prove himself and earn a big payday.
“One of the things that gets me really excited about this group is how thrilled he is to be here,” Rick Carlisle said at Media Day, “to be in this environment to play with a guy like Tyrese.”
Toppin is happy to be back near where he thrived in college at the University of Dayton and is certainly looking forward to playing next to Tyrese Haliburton, who he called “the best passer in the game right now.” Toppin wanted to get Haliburton’s excitement to play with him on-the-record at media day but it didn’t quite go as planned.
“Just one question, bro. I need that answer.” Toppin pleaded.
“What’s the question?” Haliburton replied while shaking his head.
“How excited are you to throw lobs to Mr. Obi Toppin?” he asked.
“What people don’t know about Obi Toppin is that he’s more of a bounce pass guy. He’s an under-the-rim player,” Haliburton said of the former Dunk Contest champion. “I’m always helping him play to his strengths.”
Jokes aside from Haliburton. It should be a very fun duo to watch in transition as Haliburton is always looking for opportunities to quickly push it ahead and Toppin is perhaps the best in the league at leaking out and beating the defense down the floor for easy points. He repeatedly did it against the Pacers over the years.
They haven’t shared the floor beyond practice and a pro am game this summer, but Toppin has still gotten one fast break dunk in both of the first two preseason games with Haliburton out.
Toppin has the inside track to being the starter over Jarace Walker and Jordan Nwora to open the season. While he’s done solid things offensively in the first two games, his defense has been less than stellar. First, he was pushed around repeatedly by Jaren Jackson Jr. against Memphis and then struggled to guard just about anyone he came across against the Rockets, getting blown by and biting on pump fakes. It’s just preseason and the Pacers are still adjusting to a completely new system, so it’s probably wise to not look too deeply into the results so far. However, it’s obviously an area where Toppin needs to grow if he wants to hold onto the starting gig.
“We all understand what kind of season it could be so we’re all trying to push each other and get better,” Toppin said.
Toppin said the less glamorous end has been a big focus of his during the off-season, working on his lateral quickness, not getting blown by, and cutting guys off.
“I feel like I’ve been doing pretty good defensively but could definitely do a lot better,” Toppin said of how he feels he’s been defending in training camp. “I’ve been working extremely hard defensively this whole off-season to be able to translate that into practices … and eventually games.”
Carlisle highlighted Toppin’s performance early in camp, even mentioning that he made the finals in the team’s one-on-one drill on the second day.
“The first two days he’s been really, really good,” Carlisle said last week. “… he’s shooting the ball well, we know he could run like a deer. He obviously has a very good opportunity here. Day to day he’s going to come in and keep building on little things. … He’s a sponge. He’s a wonderful guy to work with everyday.”
Last season, the Pacers started the season with Jalen Smith at the 4 but his hot shooting after he was originally traded to Indiana the previous season was nowhere to be found. Once teams started guarding him with centers and Myles Turner with fours, it began to muck up the entire offense and Smith is now seen solely as a center. This led to the team spending most of the season playing four guards with a center. They regularly sported lineups with Aaron Nesmith as a 6’5” power forward and often would have matchups like Buddy Hield guarding Jarrett Allen or Kristaps Porzingis to keep Myles Turner as the low man in defensive rotations.
Toppin adds more size to the starters than those smaller lineups that could be helpful if his defense improves and his shot has been trending upward–34% last season compared to 30% in his first two years. Even if that’s about where his shot percentage stays, he may be able to simply get down to the other end of the floor fast enough on many occasions to avoid the cross-matching that plagued the Smith / Turner pairing of teams. Offensively, the team is confident in the fit.
“I think with someone like Obi, it’s easy,” Turner said on media day. “He kind of opens the game up. Runs like a deer. Shooting the ball better which will open things up even more inside.”
Both players mentioned how the other’s shooting should help open up the paint for them.
“Myles does a lot defensively and offensively like him being able to stretch the floor, pop out to the perimeter allows me to be in the paint a little bit and use my athleticism if I roll and he pops type of thing,” Toppin said of their fit. “I feel like me and Myles will be good together. If we do the defensive things out there, the offense is going to come. Myles is one of the best shot blockers in the game … he has a huge presence when people drive to the paint. Him blocking shots leads to transition opportunities.”
And transition opportunities lead to showtime.
“It’s going to be lob city,” Toppin said.
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[…] see no in-between for Toppin. Either he will take this golden opportunity with his new team and finish in the top-5 in Most Improved Player voting, average 17 points and 8 […]
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