After months of speculation about what the fate of Toronto Raptors wing OG Anunoby would be, a trade has been made! The Toronto Raptors and New York Knicks connected to make a trade that would send OG Anunoby to New York.
Trade Details
Toronto Raptors receive: RJ Barrett, Immanuel Quickley, 2024 SRP (Via Detroit)
New York Knicks receive: OG Anunoby, Precious Achiuwa. Malachi Flynn
Toronto Raptors: Thoughts on trade, Winners, Losers, Trade Grade
People have been predicting that the Toronto Raptors would trade OG Anunoby for months, and it actually happened! I’m sure many Raptors fans will be disappointed that Toronto didn’t get a kings ransom and then some in exchange for OG Anunoby, but I believe this is is an excellent return package for OG Anunoby.
RJ Barrett isn’t a super great player, but he is a reliable scorer and should give Toronto some more offense (which they desperately need). I think the best case scenario would be RJ looks better in a different system and starts to play better with Toronto, but I think if we are just getting the current version of RJ that will be good for the team. There is also the bonus that he is Canadian (not really a bonus but it’s cool to have a mother Canadian on the roster).
Immanuel Quickley should be considered the real prize here for Toronto. He is quietly having a really good season and he is going to be such a good fit on this team. Toronto hasn’t been great at either of the guard positions this season. Gary Trent Jr is having a down year and Dennis Schroeder, while good in his own way, hadn’t been making up for that as much as you’d like. Adding Quickley gives Toronto more insurance at the guard positions and he seamlessly fit in to any sort of lineup Darko may want to throw out onto the court.
The second round pick Toronto is getting has more value than most second round picks, as it will likely be the first pick of that round in the draft. Considering the team didn’t have any other draft capital in this upcoming draft, I’d say that’s a win for Toronto.
It is really going to suck to see OG Anunoby wearing another uniform, and I will miss Precious Achiuwa and Malachi Flynn too. However, Toronto managed to get two good players and add a draft pick next year. So while it may not be the package Raptors fans expected, it’s one that we should appreciate.
Starting Lineup
PG: Scottie Barnes
SG: Immanuel Quickley
SF: RJ Barrett
PF: Pascal Siakam
C: Jakop Poeltl
Bench
PG: Dennis Schroeder
SG: Gary Trent Jr
SF: Jalen McDaniels
PF: Otto Porter Jr
C: Chris Boucher
Winner — Toronto Raptors
Winner — RJ Barrett
Loser — Raptors fans who thought they would get the world for OG Anunoby in a trade
Grade: A
New York Knicks: Thought on trade, Winners, Losers, Trade grade
The Knicks have been pegged as a trade destination for OG Anunoby since the trade rumours began, and they were the team that was able to pull the trigger on a deal. I like this move for New York quite a bit.
OG Anunoby is going to be an amazing fit on the Knicks roster. He improves their defense a ton and he is another solid offensive player that they can put around Jalen Brunson and Julius Randle. There is the aspect of having to resign him in the off-season, but it’s New York, so they can afford it.
While OG definitely is an upgrade over RJ Barrett, losing Quickley will definitely hurt the Knicks. Their guard depth isn’t spectacular, so I think we could see them try out a few different ideas for how they run the guard rotation, maybe even making a trading to bring in a new backup PG to make up for the loss of Quickley. Malachi Flynn is cool, but I wouldn’t exactly call him the ideal backup point guard on a playoff team.
I think Achiuwa will be a solid pickup for them. Mitchell Robinson is going to be out for a while, and they needed more big man depth. Achiuwa is shorter for a Center, but he has a ton of energy and I am sure Knicks fans are going to love him.
So overall, I think this is a pretty solid move for New York. They got an upgrade for the starting lineup and put themselves in a better position to win now. All they need to do now is resign OG and try to win a championship.
Starting Lineup
PG: Jalen Brunson
SG: Quentin Grimes
SF: OG Anunoby
PF: Julius Randle
C: Isaiah Hartenstien
Bench
PG: Malachi Flynn
SG: Donte DiVincenzo
SF: Josh Hart
PF: Precious Achiuwa
C: Jericho Sims
Winner — Knicks defense
Winner — Tom Thibodeau
Loser — Knicks guard depth
Grade: A-