Draft profile: Kentucky’s Immanuel Quickley

By Kevin McCormick, Sports Talk Philly Editor

Next up in my draft profile series is someone who will most likely be a target in the second round instead of the first. That player is Kentucky guard Immanuel Quickley. 

Quickley is a sharpshooting guard who burst onto the scene in his second season at Kentucky. As a sophomore he tripled his scoring and rebounding numbers, and almost increased his three-point percentage ten points from when he was a freshman. 

This year Quickley averaged 16.1 PPG, 4.2 RPG, and 1.9 APG. On top of that 42.8% from deep on just under five attempts a game. 

There is a lot to like about his game. His shot is smooth from deep, he is great at moving around the floor without the ball, and he has a nice enough handle to put the ball on the floor when teams have chased him off the three-point line. 

Quickley has no problem getting his shot off in any kind of situation. He is most lethal when he is catching and shooting but also can get his shot off the dribble when needed. 

The biggest weakness of Quickley would have to be his size. Currently he sits at six foot three and weighs 188 pounds. He would be considered undersized coming in, but at soon to be 21 years old he could still grow and will put on weight when he has the availability of an NBA training staff.  

Immanuel Quickley is a name the Sixers should have underlined, circled, and highlighted on their draft board. His fit on the Sixers’ roster is almost perfect. He is the exact kind of player that the team needs to be putting around Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid. 

We saw in recent years how well JJ Redick thrived in the Sixers’ system and was able to have some of the best scoring seasons of his entire career. Now imagine getting a 21-year-old player who can play just like him and still has the potential to grow his game more, that is what they could be getting in drafting Quickley. 

He could be a guy that is flying down the wings with Ben Simmons and hitting threes in transition, and he could also be a guy that Joel Embiid could kick the ball out to when he is double teamed in the post. 

Shooting is an area that the Sixers need to improve badly. To lock a guy up like Quickley on a rookie deal would be a steal for them as they have little cap room to work with moving forward. Hopefully, the Sixers do the right thing and address their biggest issue in this draft.