Toppin met with reporters in Indianapolis on Monday as the Pacers held Media Day one day before training camp started at the Ascension St. Vincent Center.
“Everybody’s amazing here,” Toppin said. “The front office, coaches, players, everybody’s been welcoming. I want to learn and get better every single day. I’ve been loving every day.”
The Pacers play their first preseason game Sunday on the road against the Memphis Grizzlies. They open the regular season Oct. 19 at home against the Washington Wizards.
Toppin averaged 14.7 minutes in 201 games over the three seasons with the Knicks and saw his minutes fall from 17.1 per game in his second season to 15.7 in his third. He appeared in 201 games and started 15.
Toppin does not have bad feelings about his lack of chances with the Knicks under coach Tom Thibodeau.
“I had a great time in New York,” he said. “Shout out to everybody over there. The coaches, players, all of them helped me become who I am today. Coach Thibs spoke to me from day one and told me, ‘If you really want this, you’re going to have to be in the gym every day.’ So he put that in my in my head and just made me a gym rat, even though like I was already a gym rat in college. He made me want it more.”
With the Pacers, Toppin will compete for playing time with Jarace Walker, the No. 8 pick in the 2023 draft out of Houston, and Jordan Nwora, a third-year forward who was traded to the Pacers last February.
According to reports from the first day of training camp, Toppin started alongside Tyrese Haliburton, Bennedict Mathurin, Bruce Brown and Myles Turner. Toppin and Haliburton, the team’s point guard, are already talking about putting on a dunking show.
“We’re going to be probably — if not the fastest team — one of the fastest teams in the league,” Toppin said. “We’re all young. All of our guards are willing to pass the ball ahead. It’ll be lob city.”
Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said in the summer the team was thrilled to get Toppin in part because of how valuable he is in the transition game.
“The way we want to play, the identity we have is to play fast,” Carlisle said. “Love his touch and feel. The athleticism speaks for itself, we’ve all seen it. He’s just an above the rim guy. He plays the game with a lot of feel. I think he’s a guy that can make plays.”
Toppin is in the final year of a four-year, $22 million contract. He’ll make $6.8 million this season. He’ll be a restricted free agent after this season. Pacers General Manager Chad Buchanan talked this week about whether the Pacers would offer Toppin an extension. He said there’s no rush.
“Obi’s somebody we haven’t seen on our team yet,” he said. “We would like to see how things play out there.”
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