Knicks castaway Toppin lauded as ideal for ‘fast team’ Pacers

NEW YORK — The run-and-gun Pacers see a perfect fit for two players who got away from the Knicks.

Although the Obi Toppin trade is not yet official, Indiana coach Rick Carlisle alluded to the acquisition as a boost to his team’s preferred rapid pace.

“One of the statistics we happened upon — we have another deal that’s in the works that we can’t really talk about — but the rumored player in that deal (Toppin) is the No. 1 player in effective fieldgoal percentage in transition,” said Carlisle, who was referencing the combined percentages of the last two seasons. “And No. 2 is Tyrese (Haliburton). And No. 3 is Bruce Brown. So our management team has done a great job of adding a couple of great pieces to what our identity is — a fast team.”

Carlisle was speaking at the introductory press conference of Brown, who revealed Thursday that he took free-agency meetings with only the Knicks and Pacers.

The Knicks, restrained by their salary cap situation, were outbid by the Pacers’ 2-year, $45 million winning offer. Brown, 26, fresh off a championship run with the Nuggets, cashed in with a 400% raise from last season. Team president Leon Rose instead signed guard Donte DiVincenzo to a 4 year, $50 million contract.

“The Knicks were the first (meeting). I think we had others lined up, but we didn’t make it there,” said Brown, who added that a recruiting pitch from Haliburton — the Pacers’ All-Star point guard — played a role in choosing Indy.

With Toppin, the Knicks essentially acknowledged failure by trading the former eighth overall pick for a pair of future second-rounders. Toppin’s athleticism and speed often ignited scoring spurts while exciting the Madison Square Garden crowd, but his playing time was limited as Julius Randle’s backup.

Defensively, the power forward’s struggles shortened the leash held by coach Tom Thibodeau. Toppin averaged just 14.7 minutes in his three Knicks seasons. In the half-court offense, he became a spot-up 3-point shooter parked in a corner.

But with the Pacers — who ranked first in the NBA last season in transition points (the Knicks were 15th) — the system is built around Toppin’s strengths in the open court.

It’s a tantalizing alleyoop combination with Haliburton, who ranked second in the NBA in assists last season as the rebuilding Pacers (35-47) exceeded low expectations. Ironically, the Knicks passed on Haliburton in 2020 to draft Toppin.

Both players are repped by CAA, the agency with close ties to Rose.