Robert Gray is a Toronto-area writer and a devoted Raptors fan since Day 1. He’s been a fan since Walt Williams revolutionized the knee-high sock industry. He once asked Lamond Murray for an autograph in a convenience store and Murray thought he was being sarcastic.
Remember the 1989 movie Major League, where the evil owner of the Cleveland Indians purposely puts together a team of bums and misfits in an effort to tank badly enough to relocate the team to Florida?
That’s exactly what I used to fear was secretly going on inside the Toronto Raptors front office.
It felt like every year at draft time, some kind of giant conspiracy was in the works to put an end to our little “Canadian expansion experiment.”
Zach Randolph is still available? No thanks. We’ve got our sights set on Michael Bradley, a man who currently ranks as the number one photocopier salesman in the Greater Philadelphia Area.
That’s ok, Chicago— you can have Ron Artest. We’ll take Aleksandar Radojevic, the top prospect in all of Oxen Farming.
That is precisely why it is so refreshing to see the way the Raptors are drafting lately. Delon Wright, Norman Powell, Pascal Siakam, Jakob Poeltl— they are selecting NBA-ready players who have come in and made immediate contributions.
Raptor fans, I hope you’re all appreciating how sweet we have it right now.
The re-signing of Kyle Lowry shows that the team is retaining all-star free agents. The off-season acquisition of C.J. Miles means they’re signing productive coveted talent. And the 23rd pick this year proves that they are also drafting with a hint of genius.
OG Anunoby was a “risky” pick whose stock fell after a season-ending knee injury he sustained earlier this year while playing for the Indiana Hoosiers. It ended up being one of the better injuries to every happen to Toronto.
Despite dropping late into the first round, Anunoby didn’t lack confidence. On draft night he sounded like Al Franken’s SNL character Stuart Smalley when asked about his own ability to defend. “I think I’m athletic enough, strong enough and smart enough to defend every position,” he told reporters.
There’s something to be said for good genetics. While the six-foot-eight 234-pound forward would be the biggest branch on most family trees, in the Anunoby family he has nothing on older brother, Chigbo, a veteran defensive tackle who has spent time with three NFL teams and checks in at a baffling six-foot-four and 324 pounds.
Masai Ujiri has a knack for acquiring top-level talent, particularly international prospects that appreciate the diversity and multiculturalism of Toronto. In that respect, Anunoby fits right in. The rookie wing was born in London, England to Nigerian parents and raised from the age of four in Missouri. He’s already said that he’s “… felt a connection” with Toronto.
What’s not to love about this guy?
Anunoby is an intelligent defender and a phenomenal athlete. He anticipates and cuts off wing passes then finishes fastbreaks with superhuman stylistic-slams.
Anunoby is old school. He wears his shorts eight inches above his kneecaps, which he considers a personal trademark, a quirky and glorious tribute to the NBA heroes of old.
Anunoby is new school. He shoots three-pointers with an impressively smooth and confident stroke for a rookie, yet when asked how he could improve upon his game from long distance, he humbly admitted that he had a tendency to rush shots from behind the arc.
Anunoby is just one of what seems to be a bevy of bright spots in present-day Raptorland.
He also has a charming and subtle sense of humour. If you’ve seen him interviewed, he often answers questions in a manner that’s facetiously terse— shrewd, to-the-point responses accompanied by a wry grin. He almost seems to be channelling his inner Gregg Popovich. It’s a nice change from the stock answers you normally hear from players during their obligatory interviews.
Examples:
Interviewer: Describe the difference tonight from pre-season.
OG: There were more people here.
Anunoby: I wear Crocs a lot.
Interviewer: Comfortable.
Anunoby: [pause] Yeah.
When asked how he planned to celebrate on draft night:
OG: Uh … get some cheesecake.
I was saddened by the loss of P.J. Tucker this off-season. He was everything you could want in a role player. But in Anunoby, the Raptors have an incredibly promising prospect with the same gritty game and mentality, but with twice the athleticism— and for a fraction of the cost.
The only thing he lacks is Tucker’s verbose on-court presence, but that comes with time, and at 20 years old, the young man has nothing but time.
This rookie is special. It’s going to be fun to see how far he’s progressed by season’s end.
With Anunoby the Raps can have their cheesecake and eat it, too.
[relatedlinks]
