Tag: O.G. Anunoby

Raptors’ O.G. Anunoby played the perfect prank on Damian Lillard before the Bucks trade

Lillard was shocked when he received this text message from Anunoby.

Before he was eventually traded to the Milwaukee Bucks, former Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard received a shocking text message.

It was from Toronto Raptors wing O.G. Anunoby and although it was a simple message, it was enough to briefly shake up Lillard’s world. According to Lillard, the text from Anunoby read “Welcome to Toronto” and there was no further context.

Lillard requested a trade from Portland at the beginning of July and he was essentially stuck in basketball purgatory for months before the Milwaukee deal was eventually completed. Although his reported preference was to play for Miami, the Raptors were another rumored suitor for his services.

Here is more from Lillard:

“Everything was up in there. I was on the phone and I got random text from O.G., like, welcome to Toronto. […] He [is] always messing around, like, joking and stuff like that because we train together in summer a little bit. And he texted me like, ‘Welome to Toronto!’ and so I was like ‘Let me call this dude and see.’ [When] I finally called him, he didn’t answer. Then he called me back and he was laughing.”

Lillard said the message caught him by surprise but he was naturally skeptical because Anunoby is always playing around.

While we now know that Lillard will play for the Bucks, if Portland had traded the guard to Toronto, it is very likely Anunoby (a rumored trade target for several teams at the deadline) would have gone to the Trail Blazers as part of the deal.

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Bleacher Report suggests a Lu Dort for O.G. Anunoby swap for Thunder

Adding O.G. Anunoby would bolster the Thunder.

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2023 summer league is over, which means we’ve reached the slowest part of the NBA calendar as the Oklahoma City Thunder prepare for training camp in September.

Even though free agency is mostly settled, that doesn’t mean transactions have to slow down over the next couple of months. As the Thunder have shown, the trade market is open 24/7 and 365 days a year.

Bleacher Report writers Grant Hughes and Dan Favale conjured up one new trade idea for all 30 NBA teams. For the Thunder’s entry, it involved acquiring one of the Toronto Raptors’ better players.

  • Details: The Thunder acquire O.G. Anunoby from the Raptors for Lu Dort, 2024 first-round pick (top-10 protected via Jazz), 2024 first-round pick (via Clippers), 2027 first-round pick (top-4 protected) and a 2025 second-round pick (via Hawks)

The reasoning behind the deal for the Thunder is it gives them an upgrade at the starting wing spot over Dort albeit with some risk involved:

“The Thunder hit the upgrade button on Dort with this deal, sending him to the Raptors for a bigger, more versatile defender in Anunoby. Added bonus: Anunoby has hit at least 38.7 of his trey attempts in three of the last four years (Dort is a career 33.2 percent shooter from distance) and possesses the strength to credibly defend centers.

That last attribute is key, as the Thunder may need to have a bruiser — even an undersized one — on hand to spare Chet Holmgren from the most punishing physical matchups. …

The reason for what may seem like a modest pick outlay is the uncertainty surrounding Anunoby’s future. He can opt out of his deal next summer, and though OKC should have some idea of what it’ll cost to keep him, the possibility of a walk-away factors into the offer here.”

While this is an upgrade on paper for the Thunder, they’ve never really been the type of chase for instant gratification without long-term security. Trading for Anunoby on a (likely) expiring deal for a team not yet ready to contend seems like an uncharacteristic move from the OKC front office.

Perhaps this is the type of move the Thunder could make next summer, but for now, they’re willing to stay patient and see what their current young core can do when fully healthy.

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Celtics’ use of Tacko Fall on defense failed to pay off late in Game 3

Over the outstretched arms of Tacko Fall, Kyle Lowry delivered the game-winning assist to O.G. Anunoby as the Raptors won at the buzzer.

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With Game 3 tied up at 101 apiece, Kemba Walker delivered a beautiful behind-the-back no-look pass to Daniel Theis to give the Boston Celtics a two-point advantage with half of a second left in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

The Celtics appeared to be on their way to taking a commanding 3-0 series lead over the Toronto Raptors. Instead, O.G. Anunoby etched his name in the history books after hitting the game-winning 3-pointer as time expired to give the Raptors the 104-103 victory.

To combat the play, Celtics head coach inserted 7-foot-5 rookie Tacko Fall into the game. Fall was tasked with guarding Kyle Lowry, the inbounder on the play. Given Fall has a 10-foot-2.5 standing reach, he was the perfect player to use but Lowry managed to get the ball over his arms.

Afterward, Lowry said to Rebecca Haarlow of TNT that the play was designed to go to Fred VanVleet or Pascal Siakam but knew he had to throw it to Anunoby once he saw him open. Lowry said he had to be patient to deliver the pass with a “7-foot-12 guy” guarding him.

Though Fall failed to block or deflect the pass by Lowry out of the timeout, his mere presence made it that much tougher to make the pass to Anunoby. Inserting Fall in that situation was smart on Stevens’ part but it ultimately didn’t pan out in the end.

The pass and, most importantly, the shot by Anunoby likely saved the Raptors’ season as they were on the verge of heading into Game 4 facing elimination. Now, the defending champs have new life in the playoffs and can even the series on Saturday.

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