OG Anunoby is known for his defense. That’s what tends to happen when you’re on an all-defensive team and win a steals title, and he hasn’t missed a beat since joining the New York Knicks. He leads all perimeter players with 7.4 contested shots per game and is sixth among all. NBA players with 3.9 deflections per game. Stop the conversation right here and Anunoby is already more than earning his keep in New York, but he’s always felt like he deserved more credit.
“I always prided myself on being a two-way player, not just a defender,” Anunoby said recently. Atlético’s James Edwards.
Sure, a small facet of his offense would be included in the description when he was listed among the NBA’s elite 3-and-D players, but it remained extremely reductive. Anunoby has long been capable of doing more, and inform During the end of his tenure with the Toronto Raptors he suggested his goal was to prove it.
Monday was an exclamation point on Anunoby’s season-long test tour. In a 145-118 annihilation of the Denver Nuggets, Anunoby scored a career-high 40 points on 16-of-23 shooting. Those numbers weren’t simply accumulated through the type of traditional role-player shooting expected of him. Of his five three-pointers, only two came in the corners. That has more or less kept up with his overall pace this season.
Coming into this season, 43.4% of his 3-pointers came in the corners, the shortest and easiest 3-pointers on the court. When he arrived in New York last season, that number shot up to 58.7% in his 23 regular-season games with the Knicks. His corner rate has dropped to 34.7% this season. On Monday, he shot 11 of 16 inside the arc, killing Denver in the paint and as a mid-range shooter. That shooting rate has skyrocketed since becoming a Knick. In Toronto, only 31.5% of his shots came within one meter of the basket. He’s just under 35% like the Knick.
That versatility as a shooter has been on display all season. Pick an area of the court and its heat map will be bright red. Anunoby is making more than 70% of his attempts in the restricted area, almost 42% of his mid-range shots and almost 43% of his three-pointers over the break. He’s on pace to set a new career-high in free throw attempts, and he’s even recovered as many offensive fumbles as Josh Hart, who perpetually ranks among the league leaders on that front. The best part? He’s doing all this without dribbling. On average, he dribbles just 1.07 times per touch, behind only Karl-Anthony Towns, a center, in the Knicks’ center rotation, and holds the ball on average for just 1.92 seconds per touch, the most low among that group.
That’s the beauty of this low-maintenance masterpiece of a season Anunoby is having on offense. The Knicks don’t need to call plays for him. He has only taken four shots outside of isolation all season, according to Synergy Sports. Everything is within the flow of the offense and everything is working. Are defenses committing too much to Towns and Jalen Brunson? Great, Anunoby is averaging 1.68 points per possession off of cuts. That ranks in the 90th percentile league-wide. He also ranks in the 90th percentile in terms of post efficiency, scoring 1,278 points per possession there because he almost exclusively uses the post to punish mismatches created by his more famous teammates. He’s running the floor so well that he comfortably leads the Knicks in fast break points. He doesn’t dribble much, but if you commit too much to closing behind the goal? He’ll put the ball on the ground and plunge your poor out-of-position center into oblivion.
These are not the traits of a player who can be defined solely by his defense, and that’s because Anunoby has evolved far beyond that. He’s not even a 3-and-D player anymore. It’s time to start adapting him to a new, higher label: All-Star.
The Knicks already have two of them in Brunson and Towns, but Anunoby has been more consistent than either of them this season. Their defensive vulnerabilities have been a major problem for the 23rd-ranked Knicks. Anunoby is one of the few players holding them together on that front. Those two may create the bulk of New York’s shots, but Anunoby is finishing more than his share, and his ability to do so without demanding touches or plays that might otherwise throw the stars out of their rhythm is vital.
The raw numbers will work against Anunoby on the All-Star front. It’s rare for 19-point scorers to make the cut, but it’s unprecedented. This decade alone, 15 All-Stars have been chosen averaging fewer points than Anunoby currently does. Almost all of them, like Anunoby, were defensive stars who found ways to thrive in low-usage offensive roles. Most of those players were centers, but the East’s crop of wings is relatively weak so far this season.
Jaylen Brown has had the least efficient shooting start in his history. Paul George has barely played and Khris Middleton hasn’t even made his debut. Paolo Banchero’s absence due to injury could leave him out of the race. The only surefire forwards among Eastern Conference forwards right now are probably Jayson Tatum, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Evan Mobley. Anunoby makes compelling arguments over almost everyone else.
Whether he gets the call in February or not, Anunoby has, at least, shed any accusations that he is merely an advocate. The Knicks are obviously thrilled with what he brings to the table on that end of the floor each night, but so far this season, he’s also been equally important to one of the league’s best offenses.
