The Immanuel Quickley problem: How bad is it?

At the end of Monday’s 118-100 win over the Atlanta Hawks, it was Jamal Shead dribbling the ball to run out the Scotiabank Arena clock for the Toronto Raptors, not Immanuel Quickley.

The 26-year-old had been benched again with 4:38 remaining in the fourth quarter, as Darko Rajakovic opted for the sophomore guard in Shead for the second time in the last four games. The game had been close, and the Shead-led Raptors closed it out with ease.

The first sit-down during a final stretch came in Toronto’s win over the Orlando Magic before the new year, when Shead finished with a team-high in points (19) and assists (five), while Quickley had four points on 2-of-12 shooting (0-of-6 from three) and was a team-low minus-19.

The former New York Knick wasn’t nearly as bad in this one, and the former Houston Cougar wasn’t nearly as good, but Rajakovic once again showed that when he wants to go to a certain look, he’ll opt for the sophomore.

The Raptors want to pressure the ball with high pickup points, create a boatload of live-ball turnovers, then get out and run. Simply put, Shead executes that scheme better than Quickley. He isn’t nearly the shotmaker as the established Quickley, but at least in some contests, Shead’s strengths seem to outweigh that difference.

It is a bad sign that Rajakovic is replacing a player down the stretch in Quickley, who was the key asset in a major trade and also makes north of $30-million, in favour of a second-round pick in year two in Shead. But that’s the situation, or even the problem, the Raptors and Rajakovic find themselves in.

Against the Hawks Monday night, you could have argued Quickley was the most impactful player in the first quarter. Offensively, he nailed his signature transition three and drained a catch-and-shoot triple from the right corner. With the Raptors dominating on both sides of the court, Quickley was able to pick his spots and was a deadly cherry on top of Toronto’s high-function offence. He was also active defensively.

He mainly popped in screen navigation, as he dealt with being put in a ton of actions while guarding Canadian Nickeil Alexander-Walker. He got skinny around multiple re-screens from Onyeka Onkongwu, fought through pindowns, and competed when caught on switches. Alexander-Walker was also held to 4-of-14 from the field in this one, and Quickley was a big reason why.

Overall, it was a great shotmaking and defensively active first half from Quickley, as he had 11 points on 3-for-5 shooting from the field (2-for-3 from distance) at the break.

In the second half, however, it slowly unravelled like when you drop a ball of yarn.

The shots stopped falling from all three levels, the defence was much less noticeable, and the overall decision-making took a step down. As Toronto’s offence gummed into a ball of mud at stretches, Quickley was not able to solve those problems. Point guards are supposed to get the offence flowing rather than contributing to the gumminess.

Quickley took a bad shot clock violation because of over-dribbling and turned the ball over while looking for a pass in the air under the Hawks’ basket. A lazy rotation in transition defence was enough for Rajakovic to yank Quickley.

In the second half, the veteran finished with five points on 2-for-6 shooting from the field and 1-for-4 from 3-point territory.

“If he played every part of the game perfectly, he would be the MVP of the league,” said Rajakovic after the game.

“I think he did a great job. I think he was good for us in the first half. A couple of decisions there in the second half that I probably have to do a better job at helping him in those situations.

“Overall, I thought he played a good game for us today.”

The coach isn’t willing to criticize his star player publicly, even if he is willing to sit him down in crunch time.

So what now?

Well, in the second-apron era, Quickley’s 21.5 per cent of the salary cap — which values him as an above-average NBA point guard — could cause long-term salary cap and roster complications that aren’t easy to solve.

Teams are more mindful of their long-term financial commitments than ever before, and Quickley’s value has diminished since he arrived north of the border.

Because of that, there’s no point in selling low until his contract becomes an absolute hindrance, which it isn’t yet. He’s the best perimeter shotmaker on the team and generally doesn’t turn the ball over. But with a more limited skillset on the ball as well as defensively, he is best served as an off-ball, change-of-pace, sparkplug type of guard like he was in New York.

A closer to 50-50 approach between Shead and Quickley could maybe be the best of both worlds, offering different skillsets for different situations. If you think about the point guard position as a whole and combine both of their salaries, paying $17-million or so for each doesn’t sound as bad. They work well together with a net rating of plus-13, far better than the team’s performance with either one or neither on the court, and the fact that Shead is paid so little (still on his rookie contract as a second-round draftee) ameliorates the financial situation.

How Rajakovic continues to deploy his guards will be something to monitor as the trade deadline approaches, even with the duo sharing the court. The pair have posted the second-best bet rating among Raptors’ two-man lineups with at least 175 minutes, finding success with Quickley off the ball with Shead. But could the Raptors upgrade on Quickley and find even more success with two guards? Could Quickley find his salary the easiest to move as the Raptors look to duck the luxury tax this season?

At the end of the day, it’s all about winning games, which is something both Rajakovic and Quickley have both been saying all year.

“I have complete trust in him and his work. All he needs to do is focus on what the team needs at any point in time of the game,” said Rajakovic in early November.

“But, really, it’s not just about me. It’s about staying in the moment, staying in the present, and trying to help the team win games,” said Quickley two months ago.

For now, the Raptors and Quickley are able to do that together. But it seems as though something may have to give at some point. Quickley is paid too much, and the team’s offence frequently is in desperate need of the exact skills that point guards are supposed to provide. If Quickley doesn’t improve his ability to unstick the offence, rather than to add punch when it’s already working, then change might be coming in the future.

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