The Toronto Raptors have to be feeling good about the OG Anunoby trade.
They felt pretty good in the weeks immediately after the December trade, when Immanuel Quickley and RJ Barrett were balling out and there was genuine chemistry forming between them and Scottie Barnes. Injuries disrupted everything about the last two months of the season, but Toronto picked up two legitimate starters and building blocks of the future in the deal.
The Raptors officially fleeced the New York Knicks
The last two days, however, have only cemented how much the Raptors won the trade by putting into place the last details of the deal. First, the New York Knicks re-signed OG Anunoby, avoiding the worst-case scenarios of him walking in free agency to sign with another team. The leverage that OG had, because of how much the Knicks gave up and especially after New York traded for Mikal Bridges, allowed him to negotiate a truly lucrative new contract.
Anunoby will make $207 million over the next five years, not quite the maximum that he could make but a truly staggering amount for a player who has never been an All-Star nor even been particularly close. He is a low-usage 3-and-D player — the very best version of such a player, of course, someone who can fit in around other stars, but not a star himself.
