Player Preview: OG Anunoby is looking to live up to the payday

Fresh off a $212 million extension, can Anunoby stay on the court enough to realize New York’s full potential?

Basketball seasons are long. They can be even longer when things shift the way they have for the Knicks over the past year. One year ago today, the Knicks were gearing up to essentially run it back with RJ Barrett as the third option and Immanuel Quickley as a Sixth Man of the Year favorite. They also entered with Quentin Grimes starting at the 2 with Donte DiVincenzo backing him up. Isaiah Hartenstein backed up Mitchell Robinson and Julius Randle as the co-top option. 365 days later, every player I just named won’t be playing for the Knicks on October 22nd. Grimes went to Detroit for a minor boost for the playoff rotation. Hartenstein walked, and Randle and DiVincenzo were sent to Minnesota. Robinson is still here, but won’t play until January.

Barrett and Quickley were Knicks less than ten months ago. Does it feel like it’s been longer? It has to me. The Knicks traded their two former first-round picks to the Raptors for OG Anunoby.

Anunoby wasn’t a scorer; the Knicks would be sacrificing some offense here, but his acquisition was sorely needed. The Knicks were the worst defense in basketball in December 2023. Mitchell Robinson went down with an injury early in the month, and with very few good defenders in the rotation, the walls caved in. That source of defense came from Anunoby, a CAA client that the Knicks had been linked to for a while. He maxed out at 17 PPG in 2021-22, and his offensive strength comes from his career 37.6% shooting from downtown. With Randle and Brunson’s skillsets making RJ Barrett’s essentially moot, adding a corner specialist who doesn’t need the ball in his hands to thrive like Anunoby was a great fit.

The problems were that you weren’t sure if he could score in the event one (or both) of the Randle/Brunson duo were unavailable and his injury history. Both of these problems showed up in Game 2 against Indiana in May. Although Anunoby successfully shouldered more of an offensive load with Brunson hobbled, his injury history caught up to him as he suffered a devastating hamstring injury, knocking him out (for all but five minutes) the rest of the season.

Anunoby has played 70 games one time, as a rookie. He missed 29 games in the shortened 2020-21 season and 39 in the following year. He missed a grand total of 32 games this season with his two freak elbow injuries. He also missed the entire 2019 NBA Finals run with the Raptors and, of course, the final five games of the Knicks-Pacers series.

What is OG Anunoby’s value to the Knicks? Consider that, in the 23 games he played in the regular season, they went 20-3. Two days after they lost to the Sixers in an embarrassing 79-73 game without OG, he returned to blow them out. His numbers were lower than in Toronto, as he took fewer shots and was a clear third option when he played. He shot 48.8% from the field and 39.4% from 3. He started blocking more shots (no Mitchell Robinson means he’s guarding the center more) and his net rating was ludicrous. A 23-game sample size where you have a +21.7 net rating? Video game numbers.

Anunoby’s role now is different, but similar in ways. He’s further down the totem pole with KAT absorbing Randle’s shot share and Mikal Bridges being a more traditional third option. OG might not see a ton of shots (although more than Josh Hart), but he’ll continue to guard the best player on other teams. That said, he’s not the only sheriff in town. Last year, the defense slipped heavy with OG off the court. This year, Thibs is able to keep one lanky wing on the court at all times with the durable Mikal Bridges in tow. This means that you won’t need to see OG on the court for 40 minutes against playoff teams to win, which is important given his durability.

Josh Hart is often considered the Knicks’ glue guy, but the new $212 million man will be what makes this Knicks team so dynamic on both ends of the floor. These goals are based on that:

Play 70 Games, Be Healthy for the Playoffs

Tom Thibodeau will never load manage. That said, maybe OG can sit in some of these back-to-back sets. The Knicks have questionable depth at wing behind their starters, but injuries are going to happen. The best way to keep OG fresh and avoid injuries is to be mindful of his workload. Some of these back-to-backs can be used to keep him healthy without compromising their win/loss record.

November 17-18: vs BKN, vs CHI

December 27-28: @ ORL, @ WSH

January 20-21: vs ATL, @ BKN

February 3-4: vs HOU, @ TOR

March 19-20: @ SAS, @ CHA

Of course, you can’t script an 82-game season. You have no idea who’s going to land on their foot funny, take an awkward tumble on their shoulder, or randomly have bone spurs in their elbow. I don’t need OG to play 70 games for the issue of familiarity and chemistry. I truthfully believe that his 30-35 minutes a night can be the difference maker in games against teams the Knicks will be fighting with for seeding.

Oh yeah, playoffs too. Hopefully, something good breaks our way so OG isn’t playing 40+ minutes a night in April.

Shoot 40% from 3

OG shot 39.4% in 23 games as a Knick and has shot over 38% in all but one of the past five seasons. He’s never cracked 40, but he’s close enough that he can, shooting about five or six a night. A big part of great three-point shooting is catch-and-shoot opportunities. Donte and Deuce were experts at getting the rock into space and hoisting it. Deuce shot 42.2%, Donte shot 40.6%. OG? He shot 42% in the regular season on about four attempts a game.

It’s different from pull-up shooting. OG went just 5-for-18, including playoffs, from deep on pull-up shooting. It’s a pretty significant drop-off compared to the two other C&S guys I named, who hovered around 37% on pull-ups. I mean, guys like Randle and Hart shot sub-25% on pull-ups so it’s not an outlier. OG shouldn’t be on-ball a lot in this offense, maximizing his role as a corner shooter.

Have One Random Scoring Explosion

I’m again being selfish. I doubt you’ll see JB and KAT play all 82, so there are going to be games where Anunoby gets more shots. I just want one 40-piece. Remember the random 44-point Kemba Walker outing? The random Trey Burke 42-piece? I want him to randomly hit eight threes like Deuce did against Toronto last year. Hell, remember Donte last year? OG was well on his way during that Game 2, where he scored 28 points in 27 minutes with Brunson leaving for an entire quarter with a foot injury. He likely ends with 30-35 without his third-quarter injury. Cmon, it’d be awesome.