Toronto Raptors: The rise of OG Anunoby is finally here

The year of OG Anunoby finally appears to be upon us, and it should have Toronto Raptors fans excited about the future. 

Ever since he was drafted, OG Anunoby has had a strong section on basketball twitter that has been his arrival as a breakout player. And while he is coming off a strong season a year ago for the Toronto Raptors, many hoped that his best was still yet to come.

And through the first few games of this season, that belief is proving to be right. Through the first nine games of the season, Anunoby is averaging 20 points, six rebounds, and three assists on 41 percent shooting from the field and 37 percent shooting from 3-point range.

He’s also one of the team’s best wing defenders, averaging nearly two steals per contest. He’s on pace to post his best PER (Player Efficiency Rating) of his career (17.29), highest usage percentage (24.4), and has a +6.9 net rating when he’s on the floor.

Anunoby is one of the biggest reasons why the Raptors are 6-3, fourth in the Eastern Conference, even though Pascal Siakam has yet to play a game for the team this season. After recovering from a shoulder injury, Siakam is nearing a return (hopefully that happens in the next two weeks), but the team has been just fine with Anunoby leading the way.

The ultimate test of this recent tear for Anunoby will take place once Siakam returns. Siakam is coming off back-to-back seasons in which he averaged 20-plus points per game and took nearly 20 shot attempts per contest.

Once he returns, the Raptors coach staff has to ensure that both Anunoby and Siakam can’t coexist with each other. Otherwise, Anunoby is going to see him fall back down to the norm of last season while playing next to Siakam in which he often played second or third fiddle on the team.

Without Kyle Lowry, the opportunity arose for Anunoby. And through the first few weeks of the season, he has fully taken advantage of that opportunity. But we are soon going to find out if this start to the season is just Anunoby taking advantage of empty shots that aren’t being taken by Siakam or if this is truly and genuinely a breakout season for him.

While some of that falls on Anunoby to continue to be aggressive when the Raptors “big 4” of Fred VanVleet, Scottie Barnes (who has been impressive as a rookie, Siakam, and himself are fully healthy and playing together, some of that also falls on head coach Nick Nurse to continue to open opportunities for all the players – including Anunoby.

Nevertheless, the hope is that what we’ve seen from Anunoby is here to stay for the Raptors. And if that is indeed so, it absolutely raises the ceiling for a team that many expected to miss the playoffs altogether this season.

Thinking about it now, you can’t help but wonder what a fully healthy team that includes Lowry, VanVleet, Anunoby, Barnes, and Siakam could’ve accomplished in what appears to now be a wide-open Eastern Conference.

This could very well end up being the year of OG in Toronto. If it is, welcome to the bandwagon.