Knicks forward OG Anunoby isn’t entirely thrilled with his reputation as a lockdown defender. He’s more versatile than that, he told James Edwards III of The Athletic.
“I always prided myself on being a two-way player, not just a defender,” he said.
He’s backing up those words by averaging a career-best 17.4 points through 14 games this season. He’s shooting 50 percent from the field overall and 36.7 percent from deep. Fewer than half of his field goal attempts have come beyond the arc, so he’s not just a spot-up shooter.
“OG is a really good player,” Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau said. “He can shoot the ball, he can move without the ball and he’s good in transition. If you put a small guy on him, he can take him inside. He reads the game well. The awareness of where he is because of the shooting, but when he sees the back of his man’s head, he cuts and relocates extremely well. The constant movement by him is extremely good for us.”
We have more on the Knicks:
- Mikal Bridges has begun to show why the Knicks were willing to give up a package of players and five future first-round picks to the Nets to acquire him. Bridges has scored 20 or more points in three of last four games. His contributions go far beyond that, Mike Vaccaro of the New York Post points out. He blocked a potential game-tying shot by Brooklyn’s Dennis Schroder on Friday, then showed his stamina by playing 45 minutes in the rematch on Sunday and 35 more against Washington on Monday.
- Given their financial constraints, it’s unlikely the Knicks will make a significant trade this season, Edwards opines in a mailbag piece. Mitchell Robinson and Precious Achiuwa seem to be the most likely trade candidates but both are injured right now and they’re probably the two best interior defenders on the roster, he notes. A trade is more likely if they don’t start distancing themselves from most of the other teams in the East.
- In the same post, Edwards reports that rookie two-way player Kevin McCullar is still rehabbing the knee injury he sustained at Kansas prior to the draft and will likely be out several months. McCullar, a 6’5”, was a late second-round selection and the Knicks took him with the knowledge that he probably wouldn’t contribute this season.