The New York Knicks actually have a decent third piece on their roster for a deep playoff run after trading for Toronto Raptors wing OG Anunoby on Saturday. Landing a player of Anunoby’s caliber comes at a cost, though, and while RJ Barrett was an easy player to include in the blockbuster deal, Immanuel Quickley is a tough loss for Knickerbocker fans.
Shams reported on the full compensation, which includes Toronto sending guard Malachi Flynn and big man Precious Achiuwa to New York:
I can’t say this with 100% certainty, hence the wording in the headline, but it would appear to me that Quickley found out he was being traded via social media, as opposed to the Knicks reaching out to him beforehand to inform him of the pending transaction:
This young man tweeted on Christmas Day to celebrate a victory. Before that, he was silent on the platform known as X since September. If he were in the loop at all during these trade negotiations, I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t pop off a three-word, essentially “WTF” response minutes after the news first surfaced.
Quickley has provided a spark off the Knicks bench of late, and even worked his way into the starting lineup a little bit last season. He’s averaged 15 points in that span, and is playing the most efficient basketball of his career during the 2023-24 campaign. New York is selling high on Quickley and perhaps wisely so. The 24-year-old’s departure means the Knicks will lean more on Donte DiVincenzo in particular a lot more in the backcourt rotation.
As for the Raptors’ end of this, they straight-up suck right now and needed to do something to generate a spark, not to mention get something for Anunoby instead of watching him walk this summer for nothing. Quickley is easily going to start for them and provides much-needed perimeter shooting help. Also, the fact that Toronto will now have three versatile, capable playmakers in its starting five in Quickley — I assume he relegates Dennis Schroder to sixth man duty — Pascal Siakam, and Scottie Barnes should open up Barrett’s game on both ends of the court. That four-man lineup with Jakob Poeltl at center presents a lot of challenges for an opposing defense.
The trade really makes sense for all parties involved, and it’s possible that New York isn’t yet done wheeling and dealing in pursuit of more long-term upgrades.
A lot of folks on the Internet are laughing at the Knicks for pooling their assets to go in for Anunoby, as if he’s not worthy of such a haul.
Um, what? Anunoby is one of the best two-way players in the sport, is a far better shooter than Barrett ever will be, and is a perfect fit as the type of player head coach Tom Thibodeau covets. Didn’t most people think New York was dumb for rolling the dice on Julius Randle when no one else really wanted to? That’s turned out rather well. Oh, and the Knicks might’ve gotten the bargain of the century when they landed Jalen Brunson in free agency.
I know the Knicks haven’t “won anything”, but that organization was a dumpster fire not long ago. Now they’re on a much more promising trajectory with Brunson as the face of the franchise. Anunoby is an excellent addition to the squad, and a nice solution to the lingering RJ Barrett issue. It’ll be nice to see Barrett get a fresh start, too.
Aside from Anunoby’s instant impact in the Big Apple, the most compelling element to the trade will definitely be seeing what a fully unleashed Immanuel Quickley looks like North of the Border.
