Toronto Raptors: Is This OG Anunoby’s Breakout Season?

Weaknesses

It speaks to how raw Anunoby is that his biggest strengths are his physique and potential. And while he looked good defensively, some of his advanced metrics could be attributed to the team he was playing on.

OG had a comfortable role in a Raptors squad, which played solid defence as a team. He also wasn’t expected to contribute too much offensively. He ranked dead-last in the team in field goals attempted (4.7) among players who played at least 50 games.

While he shot decently (58.7 true shooting percent), 71.1 percent of his field goals were assisted including a whopping 94.5 from three-point range.

Anunoby has the physical tools to score on the inside since he’s strong enough and quick enough to beat opponents one-on-one, but he is still lacking the skills or the assertiveness to take or make his own shot.

As a rookie who was among the league leaders in assist-to-turnover ratio, Anunoby barely handled the ball. He was efficient, but at times he also wasn’t making an impact. Personally, he is quiet and is a man of action but it can also reflect as being too passive, especially on offence.

Optimistic fans compared Anunoby to a future Kawhi Leonard, but even at this stage of their careers, Leonard had shown more offensive potential.

Leonard averaged a 119 offensive rating per 100 possessions and 3.1 offensive win shares as a rookie versus OG at 113 and 1.4, respectively.

Most importantly, Anunoby needs to maintain or improve his defensive utility while increasing his offensive workload.

If there is an injury to a wing-player, Anunoby will be counted on to step up. The increased workload and opposing teams now having had an extra year to prepare for him could mean Anunoby’s greenness on offence gets even more exposed.