OG Anunoby is known for his defense. That’s what tends to happen when you make an All-Defensive team and win steals a title, and he hasn’t missed a beat since joining the New York Knicks. He leads all perimeter players with 7.4 contested shots per game, and he is sixth among all. NBA players with 3.9 deflections per game. Stop the conversation right here and Anunoby has already more than earned his keep in New York, but he always felt he deserved more credit.
“I’ve always prided myself on being a two-way player, not just a defender,” Anunoby said recently. James Edwards of the Athletic.
Certainly, a small aspect of his offense would be included in the description when he was listed among the elite 3-and-D players of the NBA, but it remained extremely reductive. Anunoby was long capable of more, and reporting during the end of his tenure with the Toronto Raptors suggested that he aimed to prove it.
Monday was an outcry on Anunoby’s season-long demonstration tour. In a 145-118 rout of the Denver Nuggets, Anunoby scored a career-high 40 points on 16-of-23 shooting. Those numbers weren’t just accumulated through the kind of traditional role player shots that were expected of him. Of his five 3-pointers, only two came in the corners. That more or less kept up with his overall rate this season.
Entering this season, 43.4% of his 3s came in the corners, the shortest and easiest triples on the court. When he arrived in New York last season, that number bolted up to 58.7% in his 23 regular-season games with the Knicks. He’s down to a 34.7% angle rate this season. On Monday, he shot 11-of-16 from inside the arc, killing Denver in the paint and as a mid-range shooter. That rim rate has soared since he became a Knick. In Toronto, only 31.5% of his shots came within three feet of the basket. He’s just a hair under 35% as a Knick.
That versatility as a shot maker has been on display all season. Select an area of the court and its heatmap is bright red. Anunoby makes over 70% of his restricted attempts, nearly 42% of his mid-range looks and nearly 43% of his over-the-break 3s. He’s on pace to set a new career high in free throws, and he’s even recovered as many loose balls on offense as Josh Hart, who is among the all-time league leaders in that regard. The best part? He does all this without dribbling. On average, he dribbles just 1.07 times per touch, trailing only Karl-Anthony Towns, a center, within the Knicks’ core rotation, and he holds the ball for an average of just 1.92 seconds per touch, the lowest figure among that group.
That’s the beauty of this low-maintenance masterpiece of a season that Anunoby has up front. The Knicks don’t need to call plays for him. He made just four shots from isolation all season, according to Synergy Sports. It’s all in the flow of the offense, and it’s all working. Defenses overcommitted to Cities and Jalen Brunson? Excellent, Anunoby averages 1.68 points per possession cuts. That ranks in the 90th percentile league-wide. He also ranks in the 90th percentile in post-up efficiency, scoring 1,278 points per possession there because he almost exclusively uses the post to punish the mismatches his more famous teammates create. He runs the court so well that he leads the Knicks in rushing points comfortably. He doesn’t dribble much, but if you overcommit to closing behind the arc? He will put the ball on the deck and forget about your poor out position.
These are not the traits of a player who can be defined exclusively by his defense, and that’s because Anunoby has evolved far beyond that. He’s not even a 3-and-D player anymore. It’s time to start fitting him for a new, higher label: All-Star.
The Knicks already have two of those in Brunson and Towns, but Anunoby has been more consistent than both this season. Their defensive vulnerabilities have been a major problem for the 23rd ranked Knicks. Anunoby is one of the few players holding them together on that front. Those two may create most of New York’s shots, but Anunoby finishes more than his fair share of them, and his ability to do so without requiring touches or play calls that might otherwise take the Stars out of their rhythm is essential.
The raw numbers will work against Anunoby on the All-Star front. It’s rare for 19-point scorers to make the cut, but not unprecedented. This decade alone, there have been 15 All-Stars selected averaging fewer points than Anunoby currently is. Almost all of them, like Anunoby, were defensive stars who found ways to thrive in low-usage offensive roles. Most of those players have been centers, but the Orient winger has been relatively weak so far this season.
Jaylen Brown is off to his least effective shooting ever. Paul George barely played and Khris Middleton didn’t even make his debut. Paolo Banchero’s injury absence may take him out of the running. The only locks among Eastern Conference forwards at the moment are likely Jayson Tatum, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Evan Mobley. Anunoby has compelling arguments about almost everyone else.
Whether he gets the call in February or not, Anunoby has, if nothing else, shot down any accusations that he’s just a defenseman. The Knicks are obviously excited about what he brings to that end of the floor every night, but so far this season, he’s just as important to one of the league’s best offenses as well.
require.config({“baseUrl”:”https://sportsfly.cbsistatic.com/fly-0832/bundles/sportsmediajs/js-build”,”config”:{“version”:{“fly/components/accordion”:”1.0″,”fly/components/alert”:”1.0″,”fly/components/base”:”1.0″,”fly/components/carousel”:”1.0″,”fly/components/dropdown”:”1.0″,”fly/components/fixate”:”1.0″,”fly/components/form-validate”:”1.0″,”fly/components/image-gallery”:”1.0″,”fly/components/iframe-messenger”:”1.0″,”fly/components/load-more”:”1.0″,”fly/components/load-more-article”:”1.0″,”fly/components/load-more-scroll”:”1.0″,”fly/components/loading”:”1.0″,”fly/components/modal”:”1.0″,”fly/components/modal-iframe”:”1.0″,”fly/components/network-bar”:”1.0″,”fly/components/poll”:”1.0″,”fly/components/search-player”:”1.0″,”fly/components/social-button”:”1.0″,”fly/components/social-counts”:”1.0″,”fly/components/social-links”:”1.0″,”fly/components/tabs”:”1.0″,”fly/components/video”:”1.0″,”fly/libs/easy-xdm”:”2.4.17.1″,”fly/libs/jquery.cookie”:”1.2″,”fly/libs/jquery.throttle-debounce”:”1.1″,”fly/libs/jquery.widget”:”1.9.2″,”fly/libs/omniture.s-code”:”1.0″,”fly/utils/jquery-mobile-init”:”1.0″,”fly/libs/jquery.mobile”:”1.3.2″,”fly/libs/backbone”:”1.0.0″,”fly/libs/underscore”:”1.5.1″,”fly/libs/jquery.easing”:”1.3″,”fly/managers/ad”:”2.0″,”fly/managers/components”:”1.0″,”fly/managers/cookie”:”1.0″,”fly/managers/debug”:”1.0″,”fly/managers/geo”:”1.0″,”fly/managers/gpt”:”4.3″,”fly/managers/history”:”2.0″,”fly/managers/madison”:”1.0″,”fly/managers/social-authentication”:”1.0″,”fly/utils/data-prefix”:”1.0″,”fly/utils/data-selector”:”1.0″,”fly/utils/function-natives”:”1.0″,”fly/utils/guid”:”1.0″,”fly/utils/log”:”1.0″,”fly/utils/object-helper”:”1.0″,”fly/utils/string-helper”:”1.0″,”fly/utils/string-vars”:”1.0″,”fly/utils/url-helper”:”1.0″,”libs/jshashtable”:”2.1″,”libs/select2″:”3.5.1″,”libs/jsonp”:”2.4.0″,”libs/jquery/mobile”:”1.4.5″,”libs/modernizr.custom”:”2.6.2″,”libs/velocity”:”1.2.2″,”libs/dataTables”:”1.10.6″,”libs/dataTables.fixedColumns”:”3.0.4″,”libs/dataTables.fixedHeader”:”2.1.2″,”libs/dateformat”:”1.0.3″,”libs/waypoints/infinite”:”3.1.1″,”libs/waypoints/inview”:”3.1.1″,”libs/waypoints/jquery.waypoints”:”3.1.1″,”libs/waypoints/sticky”:”3.1.1″,”libs/jquery/dotdotdot”:”1.6.1″,”libs/jquery/flexslider”:”2.1″,”libs/jquery/lazyload”:”1.9.3″,”libs/jquery/maskedinput”:”1.3.1″,”libs/jquery/marquee”:”1.3.1″,”libs/jquery/numberformatter”:”1.2.3″,”libs/jquery/placeholder”:”0.2.4″,”libs/jquery/scrollbar”:”0.1.6″,”libs/jquery/tablesorter”:”2.0.5″,”libs/jquery/touchswipe”:”1.6.18″,”libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.core”:”1.11.4″,”libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.draggable”:”1.11.4″,”libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.mouse”:”1.11.4″,”libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.position”:”1.11.4″,”libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.slider”:”1.11.4″,”libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.sortable”:”1.11.4″,”libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.touch-punch”:”0.2.3″,”libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.autocomplete”:”1.11.4″,”libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.accordion”:”1.11.4″,”libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.tabs”:”1.11.4″,”libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.menu”:”1.11.4″,”libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.dialog”:”1.11.4″,”libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.resizable”:”1.11.4″,”libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.button”:”1.11.4″,”libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.tooltip”:”1.11.4″,”libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.effects”:”1.11.4″,”libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.datepicker”:”1.11.4″}},”shim”:{“liveconnection/managers/connection”:{“deps”:[“liveconnection/libs/sockjs-0.3.4″]},”liveconnection/libs/sockjs-0.3.4”:{“exports”:”SockJS”},”libs/setValueFromArray”:{“exports”:”set”},”libs/getValueFromArray”:{“exports”:”get”},”fly/libs/jquery.mobile-1.3.2″:[“version!fly/utils/jquery-mobile-init”],”libs/backbone.marionette”:{“deps”:[“jquery”,”version!fly/libs/underscore”,”version!fly/libs/backbone”],”exports”:”Marionette”},”fly/libs/underscore-1.5.1″:{“exports”:”_”},”fly/libs/backbone-1.0.0″:{“deps”:[“version!fly/libs/underscore”,”jquery”],”exports”:”Backbone”},”libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.tabs-1.11.4″:[“jquery”,”version!libs/jquery/ui/jquery.ui.core”,”version!fly/libs/jquery.widget”],”libs/jquery/flexslider-2.1″:[“jquery”],”libs/dataTables.fixedColumns-3.0.4″:[“jquery”,”version!libs/dataTables”],”libs/dataTables.fixedHeader-2.1.2″:[“jquery”,”version!libs/dataTables”],”https://sports.cbsimg.net/js/CBSi/app/VideoPlayer/AdobePass-min.js”:[“https://sports.cbsimg.net/js/CBSi/util/Utils-min.js”]},”map”:{“*”:{“adobe-pass”:”https://sports.cbsimg.net/js/CBSi/app/VideoPlayer/AdobePass-min.js”,”facebook”:”https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js”,”facebook-debug”:”https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/all/debug.js”,”google”:”https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js”,”google-csa”:”https://www.google.com/adsense/search/async-ads.js”,”google-javascript-api”:”https://www.google.com/jsapi”,”google-client-api”:”https://accounts.google.com/gsi/client”,”gpt”:”https://securepubads.g.doubleclick.net/tag/js/gpt.js”,”hlsjs”:”https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/hls.js/1.0.7/hls.js”,”recaptcha”:”https://www.google.com/recaptcha/api.js?onload=loadRecaptcha&render=explicit”,”recaptcha_ajax”:”https://www.google.com/recaptcha/api/js/recaptcha_ajax.js”,”supreme-golf”:”https://sgapps-staging.supremegolf.com/search/assets/js/bundle.js”,”taboola”:”https://cdn.taboola.com/libtrc/cbsinteractive-cbssports/loader.js”,”twitter”:”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js”,”video-avia”:”https://sports.cbsimg.net/fly/js/avia-js/2.12.0/player/avia.min.js”,”video-avia-ui”:”https://sports.cbsimg.net/fly/js/avia-js/2.12.0/plugins/ui/avia.ui.min.js”,”video-avia-gam”:”https://sports.cbsimg.net/fly/js/avia-js/2.12.0/plugins/gam/avia.gam.min.js”,”video-avia-hls”:”https://sports.cbsimg.net/fly/js/avia-js/2.12.0/plugins/hls/avia.hls.min.js”,”video-avia-playlist”:”https://sports.cbsimg.net/fly/js/avia-js/2.12.0/plugins/playlist/avia.playlist.min.js”,”video-ima3″:”https://imasdk.googleapis.com/js/sdkloader/ima3.js”,”video-ima3-dai”:”https://imasdk.googleapis.com/js/sdkloader/ima3_dai.js”,”video-utils”:”https://sports.cbsimg.net/js/CBSi/util/Utils-min.js”,”video-vast-tracking”:”https://sports.cbsimg.net/fly/js/sb55/vast-js/vtg-vast-client.js”}},”waitSeconds”:300});
