NBA: Original Anunoby’s candid assessment of the impending Raptors game captures the human element of trades
After being traded to the New York Knicks, former Raptors forward OG Anunoby is getting ready to play his former team for the first time. Before the team changed its strategy, Anunoby lived in Toronto for a number of years. He talked about the normal, if uneasy, excitement of playing his old team again.
Anunoby gave reporters his opinions on the upcoming game in a post-practice interview on Thursday:
“I’ll just go into the game and try to win it.” See my former teammates, see the staff. It will be peculiar. Anunoby stated, citing the SNY Knicks, “But gotta do it.” Although the gifted forward is aware of how strange the experience is, he is still excited to see the Raptors players.
In the 2017 NBA Draft, Toronto selected Anunoby with the 23rd overall pick. As a three-and-D wing, he developed and thrived. In addition, he was a member of the group that captured the NBA Championship in 2019. He now contributes his skills to the Knicks, who aim to go far in the postseason.
In 2023, New York made it to the Eastern Conference Semifinals, but they fell short against the Miami Heat 4-2. The Knicks are deep from top to bottom, and Anunoby elevates them even further. The 26-year-old continues to play strong defense while shooting a career-high 41.5% from three-point range.
Naturally, in order to acquire the gifted forward, New York had to part with a few of its most treasured pieces. On Saturday, RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley will play their former team as well.
Although the players’ jerseys may differ, the people within them are always the same. Both teams will put in a lot of effort to compete with one another before coming together.
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After much deliberation, the New York Knicks decided to trade for OG Anunoby at the end of the 2023 season. Being among the best perimeter defenders in the league, Anunoby was bound to become a quick favorite of head coach Tom Thibodeau, and that is exactly what has happened. Anunoby, a 26-year-old swingman, played an additional 43 minutes in the Knicks’ 113-109 victory over the Washington Wizards on Thursday night. Thibodeau has relied on Anunoby to put up big minutes on the wing.
For the third game in a row, Thibodeau requested that Anunoby play at least forty-three minutes. The head coach of the Knicks is now well-known for giving the players he believes in as many minutes as possible. However, the fact that Anunoby is putting in such a high workload just halfway through the season may raise some concerns
OG Anunoby played for Nick Nurse’s Toronto Raptors, so Thibodeau justified his decision to have him play 43+ minutes on both ends of a back-to-back set by pointing out that the forward has experience in this area. “He played in Toronto,” Thibodeau said during his postgame press conference, according to SNY TV’s Knicks Videos on Twitter (X). “In the end, sometimes that’s what’s called for. So you do what you think is called for. In the end, the minutes will be where the minutes are,” Thibodeau said.
“As we’re adjusting, we have to figure things out. Find a way to prevail, then establish our rhythm and focus on getting better—this takes time. We are at that point. Simply put, some guys are playing significant minutes as time goes on. That’s what happens when we’re shorthanded, Thibodeau continued.
