The New York Knicks acquired OG Anunoby from the Toronto Raptors before the turn of the calendar year. Anunoby had been involved in trade rumors for seemingly forever before Raptors President Masai Ujiri finally pulled the trigger and dealt his three-and-D forward, along with Precious Achiuwa and Malachi Flynn, to New York for RJ Barrett, Immanuel Quickley and a second-round pick.
By most metrics, the trade was a win for the Knicks, who had been smitten with Anunoby as the standout wing defender they felt was missing from their rotation. The team went 33-17 after the trade and had the fourth-best defensive rating in the league.
But OG’s warts showed themselves when it mattered most, which should turn teams off as the 26-year-old (likely) enters free agency this summer. That won’t be the case, though. Franchises desperate for his archetype – New York especially – will overlook Anunoby’s noticeable flaws and talk themselves into his worth as a max player.
And it will be a mistake.
NBA teams are going to overpay for OG Anunoby
The six-year veteran has a $19.9 million player option for next season that he will almost certainly opt out of. If (when) he does, the Knicks can offer him a five-year, $245 million deal. Other teams can offer him a four-year contract worth $182 million. Either price is too exorbitant for who Anunoby is as a player.
The former Indiana Hoosiers star is a 37.6 percent career shooter from three, a solid mark. He shot nearly 40 percent from deep after he was dealt to New York. But more than 40 percent of his 3-point attempts this season were of the catch-and-shoot variety. He hit 40.2 percent of those – again, a solid mark, but he’s almost exclusively limited to that type of shot.
His attempts and shooting percentage dip drastically as soon as he takes just one dribble. In fact, more than half of his field-goal attempts this year came without dribbling. Ditto for what NBA.com terms “wide-open” shots. He shot 44 percent from three when there was no defender within six feet of him, but that dropped to 33 percent when a defender was within 4-to-6 feet.
He rarely fires from deep when anyone is within four feet of him; just 1.9 percent of the time this season.
Then there’s his lengthy injury history. Anunoby has missed at least 15 games in each of his six NBA seasons. He’s played 50 games or fewer on three occasions. He missed 28 games during the regular season after being traded to the Knicks – he played in 23.
He missed Games 3, 4, 5 and 6 in New York’s Eastern Conference semifinals series against the Indiana Pacers and played one minute in Game 7. He was unavailable at crucial times, and that’s not a rare occurrence for the 6-foot-7 forward.
Still, the Knicks will likely offer him that max deal, and Jake Fischer of Yahoo! Sports reported that Anunoby is willing to test the free agent market before he commits to New York. That puts teams like the Philadelphia 76ers, who have $65 million of cap space available, in play.
Anunoby is a staring-caliber player who provides useful skills as an All-NBA-level defender and catch-and-shoot threat from deep. But his game is almost exclusively limited to those two services. Offering a max deal to an injury-prone player who’s a one-trick pony on offense is a poor team-building decision.
But it will probably still happen.
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