Indiana Pacers to sign famed former New York Knick to long-term deal

Former New York Knicks player Obi Toppin has found a home among the Hoosiers.

According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Toppin is on the verge of signing a four-year, $60 million deal with the Indiana Pacers. The report comes a week before the one-year anniversary of the trade that sent Toppin from Manhattan to Indianapolis.

Toppin remains a sore point in a strong start to the decade for the Knicks: He was taken with the eighth overall pick in the 2020 draft out of Dayton, but never found a lasting role in head coach Tom Thibodeau’s tight rotations. New York regained two future second-round picks (Indiana’s least favorable round picks in 2028 and 2029 respectively) for Toppin, who just wrapped up his fourth NBA season.

Although Toppin struggled early in the season as a starter in Indiana, he later became a strong contributor to the second unit after the arrival of Pascal Siakam. Toppin would appear in all 82 games (28 starts) and record career-best numbers in scoring (10.3), minutes (21.1), rebounds (3.9), field goal percentage (57.3 ) and three-point field goal percentage (40.3).

He was able to maintain the same pace (pun intended) in Indiana’s 17-game run to the Eastern Conference Finals, notably averaging 9.9 points and 3.3 rebounds in the conference semifinal win in seven games over his original NBA employers. Toppin had a remarkable 20-point performance in Game 2 of the series at Madison Square Garden before going 6 of 11 from the field in Game 4 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

Toppin continues to be represented by Creative Artists Agency, the group previously overseen by current Knicks president Leon Rose. Wojnarowski noted that Rose’s son, Sam, helped in part negotiate the new deal, which will run through the 2028-29 season.

Toppin will remain in the Knicks organization as a family name: The Athletic’s Knicks insider Fred Katz reported that the team would extend a two-way qualifying offer to Toppin’s younger brother, Jacob, earlier this week.

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