Raptors: 3 most improved players so far in 2020-21 season

No. 2: OG Anunoby

Anunoby, picked in the first round of the 2017 NBA Draft, made his name at Indiana for his terrific perimeter defense. While he proved that his ability to stop the opposing team’s best player dead in their tracks has translated to the pros, he averaged just 7.8 points per game in his first three seasons in the NBA.

In 2020, with the departure of Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka giving him more offensive responsibility, Anunoby has not only held his own, but he’s also thrived. Anunoby is scoring a career-high 14.6 points per game, all while making threes at a very impressive 43 percent clip. Anunoby has become an elite sniper and one of the game’s best two-way players.

Anunoby’s offense is finally matching his defense

While Toronto committed a lot of money to Anunoby, they assuredly did so assuming that some of the key role players from their 2018-19 title team were going to depart in free agency, leaving Anunoby with an increasingly large role in the offense.

The early returns seem to suggest that Anunoby is starting to finally become as deadly an offensive player as he is on the defensive end. If he keeps this up, the rest of the league might finally recognize what a star he is becoming. Next year should be the springboards off which Anunoby leaps into stardom.