Week 11 NFL Moneyline Underdogs
Mike Randle
The New York Knicks continue to make headlines this offseason.
After adding the final piece to the Villanova puzzle in the Mikal Bridges trade, New York’s attention shifted toward keeping OG Anunoby. The veteran wing intends to sign a five-year, $212.5 million deal, according to Adrian Wojnarowski, which includes a player option.
With Anunoby returning and Bridges making the short trip from Brooklyn, the Knicks now have two of the best defensive wings in all of basketball, and both pair extremely well with star guard Jalen Brunson. New York traded for Anunoby just before January, and in 23 regular season games with the team, he averaged 14.1 points, 4.4 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.0 blocks per game. Those stats won’t wow you, but his defensive impact and ability to log massive minutes in Tom Thibodeau’s system cannot be overlooked. During that span, Anunoby also averaged 3.2 deflections (9th) and 7.1 contested shots per game. The team went on an impressive stretch of wins once Anunoby made his debut on Jan. 1, winning 10 of their first 12 games with him in the lineup before he suffered an injury toward the end of the month.
Anunoby is the perfect fit for this team. He can play plenty of minutes for a squad that asks their starters to log huge minutes. He doesn’t need the basketball to make high-impact plays. His usage rate during the regular season was just over 16%, and in the playoffs it was at 16.9%. But he shot 41% from three-point land during New York’s playoff run, including 45.5% on catch-and-shoot threes during that span. You have to think Brunson is going to see even more double teams and blitzes after the season he just had, which means Anunoby will have plenty of opportunities to hit open shots. The contract may seem like an insane amount, but good defensive wings who can shoot the three ball are incredibly valuable, let alone really good ones.
Before the NBA Draft even kicks off, New York is already proving to be the best challenge to the defending champion Boston Celtics.
