What the OG Anunoby trade means for the Knicks and Raptors

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The Toronto Raptors have done it, finally parting ways with a franchise pillar before it’s too late. Toronto traded forward O.G. Anunoby to New York on Saturday morning, league sources told Yahoo Sports, in exchange for RJ Barrett, Immanuel Quickley and a 2024 second-round pick. ESPN was first to report the deal, along with the fact reserve center Precious Achiuwa will also be joining the Knicks. The Athletic added that young guard Malachi Flynn will be heading to Madison Square Garden as well.

The move comes one week after team executives flocked to the G League Showcase in Orlando, where one of the few trade rumors, albeit unconfirmed, that emerged was more conversation between Toronto and New York surrounding a deal framework for Anunoby and Barrett. It’s unclear how far conversations between the two franchises went last season, but Barrett’s name was included in negotiations in February, sources said, when the Knicks were attempting to acquire Anunoby before the 2023 trade deadline.

The Raptors finally trading OG Anunoby could be the first in a line of moves for Toronto. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Toronto, though, held firm, much to the dismay of rival front offices across the league. The Raptors had dangled each of Anunoby, All-Star point guard Fred VanVleet and All-NBA forward Pascal Siakam for weeks in the lead-up to the deadline, sources said, only for Toronto to send a protected first-rounder out the door and obtain center Jakob Poeltl instead. Then, the Raptors watched VanVleet walk to Houston in free agency and net nothing in return. And when the Raptors began this 2023-24 campaign far below preseason expectations — currently standing 12-19, good for 12th in the Eastern Conference — executives began to pinpoint Toronto as a main actor for this year’s trade activity yet again, as potential sellers of Anunoby, Siakam and veteran wing Gary Trent Jr.

But the timing of the Anunoby deal was certainly a surprise to many team decision-makers around the NBA. The league expected Toronto to hold for its best possible offer much closer to the deadline. When word began to filter among front offices on…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/what-the-og-anunoby-trade-means-for-the-knicks-and-raptors-190440377.html

Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2023-12-30 19:04:40

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