Getty OG Anunoby #8 of the New York Knicks warms up prior to a game at Madison Square Garden.
OG Anunoby‘s homecoming game in Toronto has to wait as he remains out with what the New York Knicks labeled as right elbow injury management after he experienced inflammation on March 14.
With this ugly development of the Knicks’ investment after the early returns showed great promise (15-2 record when he was healthy), his notoriety in Toronto has come to light ahead of Wednesday’s match.
“Now Anunoby’s notorious fragility is very much New York’s problem, and a bigger one than the Knicks could have probably fathomed. It is a sad thing to say because, in a lot of ways, Anunoby has been a perfect acquisition in the sport’s self-proclaimed mecca,” Toronto Star columnist Dave Feschuk wrote on March 25.
Feschuk recalled former Raptors and now Philadelphia 76ers coach Nick Nurse lamenting Anunoby’s availability during their playoff push two years ago to drive his point.
“I kind of said to him, ‘I can tell (the finger is) bothering you a little bit, but I still want you to take the shots,’ ” Nurse said in 2022. “ ‘When they’re rhythm shots and they get kicked out to you and they are wide open threes, you have to keep taking them and figure out how to will them in and figure out something different you might have to do with the pain and whatever.’
“We were having a pretty good, positive, lighthearted, constructive … conversation, so I’m disappointed (that Anunoby is sitting out).”
During that time, Anunoby dealt with the discomfort of a small non-displaced fracture of the right finger on his right (shooting) hand which sidelined him from February 16 until March 24, 2022.
OG Anunoby’s Bad Luck
Anunoby has never played more than 70 games since his rookie year when he saw action in 74 games.
Over the last four seasons, he’s only played more than 65 games in just one of them.
“Depending on your perspective, Anunoby has (a) experienced a remarkable run of rotten luck in his star-crossed quest to stay healthy, or (b) built a reputation as a player with few qualms about remaining on the shelf until he’s 100 percent healthy, or awfully close,” Feschuk wrote.
His bad luck with injuries dates back to his college years in Indiana when his ACL tear during his sophomore season which caused his draft stock to plummet. But it also helped the Raptors to have him land on their lap at No. 23 in the 2017 NBA Draft.
“Obviously if he doesn’t have that injury, I don’t think we have a shot,” Raptors president Masai Ujiri said moments after the draft.
Feschuk listed Anunoby’s injuries before his trade to the Knicks.
“As a Raptor, he missed the 2019 championship run recovering from an appendectomy and the complications of a subsequent infection. Beyond that, he has been excluded from lineups for an eye contusion and a leg muscle cramp (one game each); various calf strains (18 games); multiple ankle sprains (11 games); a wrist sprain (nine games); and a hip pointer (13 games). Earlier this season, while still in Toronto, he practiced left-handed while recovering from what the team termed a right finger laceration suffered while doing household chores (three games),” Feschuk wrote.
Anunoby is set to become an unrestricted free agent and the Knicks will do everything in their power to retain him after giving up former No. 3 pick RJ Barrett and last season’s 6th Man of the Year runner-up Immanuel Quickley.
RJ Barrett, Immanuel Quickley out vs. Knicks
Barrett and Quickley will also miss the game against their former team as they continue to ramp up their return following extended absences.
Both players were listed out due to return to competition reconditioning.
“We’re gonna go day by day with them just to see how they’re gonna react to workloads, to playgroups, and all of that,” Raptors coach Darko Rajaković said.
Quickley hasn’t played since March 17 as he dealt with a left hip flexor strain. On the other hand, Barrett hasn’t played since March 11 following the death of his younger brother on March 12.
Without them and Scottie Barnes (left hand fracture), the Knicks are the heavy favorites despite missing also missing three of their starters — Anunoby, Julius Randle (dislocated right shoulder) and Mitchell Robinson (left ankle surgery).
With Jalen Brunson‘s stellar play and with Knicks role players — Donte DiVincenzo, Josh Hart, Isaiah Hartenstein and Miles McBride — raising their play, they are 7.5 favorites against the Raptors, per BetMGM sportsbook promotions.