OG Anunoby
Out of all of the Toronto Raptors starters, OG Anunoby feels like the most intriguing to analyse this season. Last year, by no fault of his own, wasn’t a great sophomore season. Anunoby struggled with the loss of his father at the start of the season, as well as a demotion to the bench unit to accommodate for the addition of Kawhi Leonard.
Statistically, not much changed for Anunoby, except for the fact that while his points tally improved, his shooting percentages fell – a large part of that was due to his role changing on the team.
Anunoby went from a low-usage, spot-up shooter to a player that would occasionally have to take someone off the dribble – a growing part of his game, but still raw. There’s a chance for OG Anunoby to take a leap this season, once again back in the starting line-up where he had great success in his rookie season.
He’s a good defender, with the chance to become an elite defender with the right development, and he’s in the best place for it in Toronto. It could be a fun year in his third NBA season.
Among his peers, though, it’s still hard to project where Anunoby belongs due to the fact that we still don’t know exactly what he is yet. At just 22 years old, he’s far from the finished product, and that surely aides his cause.
There’s a chance for Anunoby to be a great two-way wing, capable of defending multiple positions, but until we see it, resides around the middle of the pack, closer to the bottom tier of starting small forwards.