Injured in the wrist, the winger to do everything (well) of the Raptors OG Anunoby may not play again for ten days. Strange coincidence, when the latter made the headlines of transfer rumors… nine days before the trade deadline, the deadline for exchanging players in the NBA.
And if another thief of the NBA champion group in 2019 were to leave the ship?
The Raptors announced a few hours ago that their young pit bull OG Anunoby would miss the end of their team’s road trip. Dispensed yesterday in Phoenix, where the Dinosaurs lost 114-106, OG will also miss matches in Utah, Houston and Memphis and should be re-evaluated by February 5. Injured in the wrist last Friday against the Warriors after an attempted drive, the British player fell heavily on his arm following contact. Valiant, he finally got up to shoot (and score) his two free throws, before returning to the locker room for the rest of a game that ended – again – in Toronto’s defeat.
Where does this case make sense? It’s that the absence of OG the OG falls at a particular time of the season. Indeed, as the trade deadline approached on February 9, the latter found himself before his injury in multiple transfer rumors. In Toronto anyway, OG does not really seem to be unanimous. The team are reportedly looking to build around a fiery Pascal Siakam for now, and with the expected emergence of Scottie Barnes it’s hard to imagine the two on the same team without them stepping on each other. Younger, Barnes brings more flexibility to the Raptors, who are furthermore far this year from fighting for a place in the Playoffs and for whom the urgency is therefore not required.
Suns and Raptors respective presidents of basketball operations James Jones and Masai Ujiri walk down the tunnel together before their teams square off. pic.twitter.com/5amnUS9Dqz
— Arizona Sports (@AZSports) January 31, 2023
Those pictures above? Those of Masai Ujiri, big boss of the Raptors, who converses in scred (no) with James Jones, who manages for his part the sports business of the Suns. why are you being shown this image? Because if OG is no longer the priority of the Dinos, many franchises are currently learning about the case of the English bodybuilder. With his 17 points at 40% of the parking lot, the 25-year-old winger can provide a significant scoring option for a contender, and the Knicks and Suns would currently be the two teams in the lead to get the British-Nigerian at the trade deadline. New York would have according to rumors offered 3 first round draft picks at the start of the season to snatch Anunoby from the hands of Toronto but difficult to visualize the project, especially since the trio RJ Barrett / Julius Randle / Mitchell Robinson at positions 3, 4 and 5 works rather well. The fit thus seems to be better suited to the Suns. Struggling in the middle of the season, the Cactus have often found themselves composing without Devin Booker and Cameron Johnson for a while, and the idea for the future would now be to build a team with Chris Paul and D-Book in the lead. , supported by the three thieves Anunoby, Bridges and Johnson then Ayton in the racket once the Playoffs arrived. A major six that would look good, right?
Not easy to see clearly as to the future of OG Anunoby. What we do know, however, is that the grandpa has a sore hand… but that may not prevent him from signing his departure document in the coming days…