As the NBA preseason ends, take note: Three years ago, in the midst of the playoff destruction of what was then the greatest season in Toronto Raptors history, there was a still point.
The rhythmic, desperate hum of Game 2 of the 2018 series against the Cleveland Cavaliers fell away, and there within the silence stood two ineffably calm figures: One a 33-year-old veteran, attempting to drag his team to The Finals for a fourth-consecutive year, and the other a 20-year-old rookie, relentless in his efforts to slow one of the game’s greats.
In that moment, the tension of the unknown was palpable. The fear of what may come was almost overbearing. And despite LeBron James’ ethereal aura of omnipotence, it was OG Anunoby’s steadfast will to meet that domineering force which cast a signal into the ether, a promise that not everything would crumble with this dissipating season.
A lux in tenebris.
From that moment on, it seems, Raptors fans have awaited a star-making season from Anunoby, imagining his base collection of tools (a deadly three-point shot, monolithic defensive acumen, acute instincts, and somewhat understated athleticism) coalescing into something greater, something approaching the NBA’s best.
But growth isn’t linear, and while Anunoby has taken steps forward in three of his four seasons (his 2018-19 year was filled with difficulties both on and off the floor), he hasn’t yet broached that level of stardom which Pascal Siakam has taken and run with. Still, he has managed to bear an increasingly demanding role with impressive fortitude.
This season, however, that next arduous leap appears primed to burst forth for the Raptors.
Amongst all of the highlights and tantalizing tidbits that came out of the Raptors’ preseason (Precious Achiewa’s raw versatility, Gary Trent Jr. as a finisher, Scottie Barnes’ everything), it was Anunoby’s near-seamless shift into a high-usage role (24.8 percent usage rate, second-highest on the team and up from his 19.3 percent mark last season) that had fans and pundits alike salivating for the year ahead.
Indeed, he averaged 19.3 points, 4.0 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.5 steals for the Raptors on a volcanic 69.1 true shooting percentage in 25.1 minutes across four games. But it wasn’t just that he was putting up gaudy numbers—it was how he was doing it.
While many of his buckets came within the flow of the offence, the most thrilling new layer of Anunoby’s game for the Raptors arrived in the form of his pull-up shooting and the myriad ways in which he created those looks for himself.
“The biggest thing it gives you is that you watch other teams play — they’re really good — there’s a lot of times they give a really good player the ball and he just looks you in the eye and shakes you down and busts a three,” Raptors head coach Nick Nurse told reporters when asked about Anunoby’s development as a pull-up threat.
“And [Anunoby] does look really good and really confident out there, there’s no doubt about it. Every time he takes it I think he’s making it, even the degree of difficulty sometimes he’s really worked hard at that part of his game and I think he’ll continue to improve at that.”
Last season, Anunoby averaged a mere 1.6 pull-up shots per game and connected on just 27.9 percent of them for the Raptors. Through four games this preseason, he took 4.7 pull-up attempts and shot 42.1 percent. Of those attempts, 2.2 were triples on which he shot 55.5 percent.
The improvements are, of course, most obvious in single coverage if you watched Raptors preseason games. Here, he winds up with Al Horford on him at the perimeter. Using his improved strength, he takes him off the dribble, probing his way into the paint. Horford does a good job of staying with him, but Anunoby uses his off arm and an ensuing hop-step to create just enough space to rise just inside the left elbow and knock down a still-difficult look.
Anunoby found ways to take advantage for the Raptors when the defence wasn’t completely set. This time he barrels down the floor before the defence can fully set, bullying Tobias Harris towards the low block until Joel Embiid is forced to come over and help. When he does, Anunoby spins and launches a tough fadeaway that splashes home.
A more simple play, when defences came running at him to chase him off the arc, Anunoby took advantage for the Raptors. In this example, he catches the skip pass from Barnes, pump-fakes to get past Harris, and then takes a hard dribble to his right (something is not normally wont to do). From there, he smoothly rises to knock down a clean midrange jumper.
Then there was Anunoby opting to just handle his business at the arc. Here, he lulls (once again) Harris to sleep with a few casual wind-up dribbles a la James Harden, before rising straight up and burying a triple for the Raptors despite a good contest.
Of course, Anunoby’s refined creation ability not only opens things up for him as an individual scorer, it also creates advantages for the Raptors around him. He’s always been a heady and willing passer, and so being able to force opposing defences into rotation means that opportunities for easy looks will arise.
OG Anunoby has long been the Raptors’ lux in tenebris. This preseason has only reaffirmed that position, and accelerated the notion that an all-star calibre season is in his near future. It’s impossible to know if that will actually come to fruition, but for now, it’s simply enough to realize that that still point four years ago meant just as much as it appeared to.
After all, it’s in those impossibly quiet moments that the true dance takes place. The Raptors hope to pull off that delicate dance this season.
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