Why is Obi Toppin struggling on an otherwise feel-good Knicks team?

NEW YORK — Opportunities are scarce for Obi Toppin. Thus far, he hasn’t earned more.

The Knicks’ hyped rookie entered Thursday’s matchup against the Magic on a three-game stretch of playing fewer than nine minutes in each. He was hailed as an NBA-ready offensive juggernaut out of Dayton, the NCAA Player of the Year who triggered team president Leon Rose into celebration by falling to the eighth pick.

But Toppin, one of the oldest rookies at 23, remains on the outskirts of the rotation with the worst net rating of any Knick other than Kevin Knox. To his credit, Toppin has maintained a positive attitude throughout his largely disappointing rookie campaign, never wiping the smile off his face or lamenting his playing time.

“My minutes going down did not discourage me at all,” he said. “It’s just something that’s telling me I gotta push even harder every single day.”

There are conditions that could explain away Toppin’s struggles. He’s playing behind an All-Star at power forward, Julius Randle, who also happens to lead the NBA in minutes. Toppin was more effective running in the second unit with Derrick Rose, who has missed seven straight games while in health and safety protocols. Their up-tempo styles jived.

But with the injury to Mitchell Robinson, coach Tom Thibodeau passed on opportunities to find Toppin more minutes alongside Randle. They logged just 39 minutes together this season before Thursday.

Toppin’s season was personified Monday in Brooklyn. He played a four-minute shift and was pulled after the Knicks were outscored by 12. Then he never played again.

“It’s still, like, this is my first year, I’m still trying to find what I do best on the court that can help the team win,” Toppin said. “And once we figure that out, I feel like I’m gonna get better and better every day.”

Defensively, there always figured to be issues with Toppin. Offensively, he’s stepped into an unfamiliar role along the perimeter. Often in the half court, Toppin just stands in a corner to spread the floor.

But Toppin only works as a stretch-4 if he consistently hits 3-pointers, which hadn’t been the case. Heading into Thursday, he connected on 30% of his treys, most of them from wide open attempts. He air-balled seven of his 20 corner 3-pointer attempts, according to the Athletic, while converting just three of them.

“I was not on the perimeter a lot,” Toppin said of his college career. “I was mostly in the post and had a couple of threes a game.”

Toppin has been at his best in the open court, where he can utilize his speed and athleticism. But the Knicks play at the slowest pace in the NBA.

So is Toppin just an ill fit for Thibodeau? Are his struggles more of an indictment on his future? Is he a victim of the circumstances playing behind Randle?

It’s too early for any conclusions, of course, even though Toppin is older than a third of the roster. But the beginning has not been encouraging. The Knicks already have two lottery picks on the roster (Knox and Frank Ntilikina) who are trying to shake off the bust label. RJ Barrett, on the other hand, has emerged as a reliable No. 2 option after struggling as a rookie last season.

“I would say it’s tough being a rookie, especially in his situation, playing behind an All-Star,” Barrett, the third overall pick in 2019, said of Toppin. “It’s tough. But like I said, you’ve just got to keep going, keep pushing, keep working hard, like he’s doing.”