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Though there are those like Zach Buckley of Bleacher Report who believe the New York Knicks should be willing to “offer up anything in their asset collection” for Toronto Raptors’ rising stud OG Anunoby, Knicks Film School’s Jonathan Macri seems to think that such an acquisition could create more problems than solutions for the club.
In a January 31 episode of the KFS Podcast, Macri, along with guest and staff writer for The Athletic Fred Katz, discussed the hot-topic trade scenario of seeing Leon Rose and company pursuing a mid-season deal with the Raptors for their 25-year-old wing, and stated that though he may be a quality player, his fit in New York could prove to be a bit questionable.
“I don’t see Anunoby making a ton of sense, like, basically in the (Quentin) Grimes spot in the starting lineup. I don’t know, I think there’s a possibility that the team might play worse with that particular construction. It feels clunky, you’re losing your best point of attack defender because OG Anunoby is a bigger guy. Yea, I don’t know,” Macri said.
Katz would retort with his own analysis of the potential addition of Anunoby to the Knicks’ roster, agreeing that his game doesn’t seem to complement the club.
“Yeah, I mean I also think I would be concerned about the spacing. You’re taking your best shooter out of the starting lineup and you’re putting in Anunoby who’s like a 36% 3-point shooter…but teams really help off of him and the Knicks’ ball movement is not as good as the Raptors’ and, by the way, like, the Raptors put him in the corner but the Raptors are not some sort of all-world, half-court offense because of it. Like teams freely help off of him.
“Like, he’s shooting 36%. That’s solid, but it’s on 36% on a lot of open looks because teams would rather just, like, slice in on (Pascal) Siakam in the lane…and they’ll live with him taking those shots. And the other side of it is…he’s a really phenomenal defender and he’s a much better defender than Grimes, so I don’t worry. That doesn’t concern me. But the reason that you would want OG Anunoby is because he’s so versatile…I don’t think the Knicks would run with his versatility. I just don’t think the fit is great,” Katz said.
Katz would continue by stating that OG Anunoby’s defensive talents are best utilized in heavy switching schemes, which is something he doesn’t believe the Knicks are keen on running.
Knicks Would Need to Pay Up For Anunoby
OG Anunoby has been a player linked to the New York Knicks for quite some time now, with Ian Begley of SNY reporting that Leon Rose and company even reached out to the Raptors back in December to inquire about his availability.
However, should they be willing to pursue the sixth-year wing at this year’s deadline they may need to pay a pretty penny for his services, as Bruce Arthur of the Toronto Star reported on January 23rd that there has already been a “mystery team” to have offered three first-round picks to the Raptors for Anunoby.
Of course, following this bit of news fans voiced their thoughts on who said club may have been, with many believing it to be New York which isn’t so far-fetched when considering that Begley has reported that they were “comfortable” with offering multiple firsts for Anunoby back in November.
Through 45 games played the wing is posting stellar all-around averages of 16.9 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 2.1 steals, and just shy of a block on 45.7% shooting from the floor and 36.6% shooting from deep.
Asking Price For Knicks Target Revealed
OG Anunoby isn’t the only player that has been found linked as a potential trade option for the Knicks this season, as some such as Knicks Fan TV’s CP “The Franchise” believe that Utah Jazz guard Malik Beasley could be a sound option to consider pursuing.
A proven scoring threat off the pine with more than seven years of experience in the association, the idea behind such a hypothetical acquisition would be for the club to add on some much-needed offensive weapons to their bench unit which, to the KFTV creator, is something that New York has struggled with all season.
“How about adding Malik Beasley to the bench and give the bench a little bit of a lift because part of the problem is when the Knicks are going into the fourth quarter, number one, (Thibodeau) isn’t staggering the lineup properly and you’re leaving too many guys on your bench out there to get exposed…they’re not getting enough scoring.
“So then the coach has to pull the plug early, he’s got to go back to his starters…They need some playmaking, they need some scoring off the bench. I would look at a guy like Malik Beasley,” he said during a January 24 discussion on Bleacher Report.
Should the Knicks look to pursue the veteran wing, per a January 30 report by Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, the Jazz are looking to acquire something in the ballpark of a first-round pick in exchange for his services.
“Utah’s Malik Beasley and Jarred Vanderbilt have been discussed in trade talks with several teams around the league. In those conversations, Utah has given the indication that it would take the equivalent of a first-round pick to acquire each player, league sources told HoopsHype,” per Scotto.
A spark-plug bench scorer, since 2019-20 Beasley has posted per-game averages of 13.5 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 1.6 assists on 37.9% shooting from distance and, in 2022-23, is boasting averages of 13.6 points and 3.6 rebounds whilst leading the league in 3-pointers made off the pine with 121
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