Tom Thibodeau’s ideal team doesn’t just defend. It locks teams’ offense in a straightjacket and throws away the key.
That’s why the OG Anunoby trade made perfect sense for the New York Knicks. Especially after Mitchell Robinson’s career-year ended early due to ankle surgery (although the door isn’t shut on a return for the playoffs), they needed a defensive terror on the wing who could guard anybody and make their lives miserable.
They also needed someone the city could get behind. The rugged, no nonsense defender who could take on the best players in the game and shut them down. This team has evoked so many memories of the 90s Knicks that New York fell in love with and Anunoby epitomizes that all-toughness, no BS mentality.
Well, they got what they wanted. In the 10 games prior to Anunoby’s debut, the Knicks went 4-6 with a 122.1 defensive rating, 23rd in the NBA. Since the deal, they’re 9-2 with the league’s second ranked defense, and Anunoby is a league-best +190 in those 11 games. The change has been so dramatic and so sudden that Anunoby’s teammates are still trying to understand just how good he is at that end.
“I don’t know, the dude’s just a freak of nature,” Jalen Brunson told reporters after the trade. “I’m watching the same thing you guys are watching. Just like, “Oh, wow! Mmm. OK.’”
“Mmm, ok” is the perfect way to describe this deal. They cut bait early on the promising backcourt spark plug Immanuel Quickley before he hits free agency this summer. They finally gave up on turning RJ Barrett into an All-Star after his promising start to this season tanked in December. But they wanted to bring in a player that feels complete, someone who the Knicks and the city knows is ready to push this franchise to the next level.
The team has tried bringing in players in the past that could score and do all sorts of exciting things, but they didn’t fit or they didn’t have the temperament to thrive under the bright lights at MSG. Anunoby is the kind of guy that doesn’t care about celebrity row. Unless it’s an opposing star trying to drop 40 on him, he doesn’t have the time of day to care.
The Knicks will have to lock up Anunoby when he hits free agency this summer, but it won’t be hard to pay the man his money if he’s locking up stars on the court every night. Then offensively, his shooting and cutting fits well around Brunson and Julius Randle. Ever since he came on board, they’ve been winning and the Knicks look like they’re taking the next step.
The Knicks needed someone who could fit with their best players (and maybe as importantly, their coach) and they’ve got their guy, plus plenty of draft picks left to make another move. Anunoby won’t get them over the top alone, but it looks like he’s a great starting point for the next step.
