Toronto Raptors: 3 Keys to OG Anunoby winning Most Improved Player

3. Becoming more of a playmaker.

Considering he set a career-high by averaging just 2.2 assists per game in 2020-21, Anunoby’s playmaking might be the area of his game that has the most room for growth.

This is mutually inclusive with an increased role in the Raptors offense. As Anunoby draws more attention from opposing defenses, he can create shots for others, hitting open teammates while driving off the dribble.

With more experience in this role, there’s plenty of reason to believe Anunoby can become a facilitator. He possesses a high basketball IQ and has demonstrated court vision with some slick feeds out of the post amid collapsing defenders.

https://twitter.com/NBACanada/status/1362763871048491009?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

OG Anunoby is starting to develop some handles.

As pointed out, Anunoby’s ball-handling has improved, and while his usage surged to 19.3% last season from 14.3% in 2019-20, his turnover percentage increased by a smidge, 11.7% from 11.5%.

Anunoby dished out a career-high six assists twice in his last 10 games last season. He registered five assists three times in his final 20 contests of 2020-21, which is equal to the number of five-assist games he’d recorded previously in his entire NBA career.

Handing out even just four assists per game would be a big jump for Anunoby, and a perceptible indication of an improving player to voters that may not be tuning into the Raptors every night.

It’s worth noting that Anunoby has improved in just about every major statistical category each year of his career, so it’s safe to assume he’ll do again this season. The only question is by how much.

If he makes the strides that Raps fans hope and many overserve believe he can, the Raptors forward just might be taking home some hardware at season’s end.