A familiar face to Raptors fans is helping the New York Knicks in their quest to play in their first Finals since 1999: OG Anunoby. A midseason trade during the 2024 season sent Anunoby to New York and brought two Raptors starters, Immanuel Quickley and RJ Barrett, to Toronto.
That was a turning point for the franchise. Fred VanVleet had recently left in free agency, Anunoby was traded, and Pascal Siakam was soon to follow.
It was a true changing of the guard in Toronto. The team was fully committing to leaning into a youth movement led by Scottie Barnes.
Raptors fans watched Anunoby and Siakam face off in last year’s conference finals. Now they are watching Anunoby again this season.
It would be easy for fans of Toronto to watch Anunoby in the Eastern Conference Finals and think longingly to the past, or even wish Toronto had never traded him away. Those wishes are valid, but Toronto ultimately made the right decision.
The Raptors had to choose a direction
OG Anunoby is a fantastic player. He is one of the very best wing defenders in the league and is capable of giving your team 20 points on any given night. But the Raptors’ 2023 and 2024 seasons were marked by an uncertain identity.
Toronto had All-Star level players who contributed to the franchise’s first championship, but they were also not the same talented team of the late 2010s anymore. Letting VanVleet walk in free agency and trading away Anunoby and Siakam gave the team a youthful identity.
Quickley and Barrett gave Toronto younger players who fit better with Barnes’ timeline, making the trade less about giving up on Anunoby and more about finally choosing a direction.
It made Toronto less competitive in the present, but moving on from past success and building for the future allowed them to start making the next iteration of the team quicker. Two seasons later, the Raptors almost won their first playoff series of the Scottie Barnes era.
Raptors fans should be cheering for Anunoby
Anunoby was a beloved Raptor for years. Just because he could not bring Toronto to playoff success post-Kawhi Leonard and Kyle Lowry does not mean that Raptors fans should have anything but love for him.
The 2025 Finals were so much fun, in part because Raptors fans like myself could cheer for Pascal Siakam to help take down the Oklahoma City juggernaut. If the New York Knicks win this year’s Eastern Conference Finals, then the 2026 championship series will provide Raptors fans with a similar experience.
Anunoby helping New York succeed does not make Toronto’s decision wrong. It just gives Raptors fans another familiar face worth rooting for.
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