Anunoby hopes to make the most of his opportunities, regardless of role

TORONTO – O.G. Anunoby thought long and hard about his personal goals for the upcoming season, his sixth in the NBA

“Umm, individual goals?,” the forward asked, confirming the question that was just posed to him following Toronto’s Sunday afternoon practice.

“I mean, like, besides team goals? I know all the goals come from team goals, but I want to be an all-star,” he said. “That’s an individual goal. And then just team goals; winning. The further we go, the better the record we have, the more likely all that stuff can happen, and the more of us can go [to the All-Star Game].”

Once the chat had wrapped up, Anunoby started to make his way to the opposite end of the gym, where he was meeting assistant coach Earl Watson for some post-practice shooting work. Halfway there, he stopped and paused for a moment before circling back.

“Actually, one more thing,” he added. “I also want to make an All-Defensive Team.”

Individually and collectively, the Raptors have lofty ambitions for the 2022-23 campaign, which kicks off on Wednesday when they host the Cleveland Cavaliers. Inevitably, getting where they want to go as a team will require some sacrifice. Not everybody will be able to accomplish what they want to accomplish, or feel like they could accomplish in a different situation. There are a lot of mouths to feed and this is a hungry group.

Of course, Anunoby is no stranger to this concept, given the very specific role he’s played in each of his first five seasons. For the most part, his job description has consisted of defending the opposition’s best player and knocking down open corner threes – a valuable but often limiting gig.

It came with a bit more offensive freedom last season – some additional ball handling and playmaking responsibility, with the occasional post up – but he was still the fourth or fifth option in a starting lineup that included two all-stars, a high-volume shooter and the league’s Rookie of the Year.

So, naturally, when most people saw the reports that Anunoby was clamouring for a bigger role over the summer, they could understand it. What player in the NBA doesn’t want a bigger role? As a highly competitive and physically gifted professional athlete, it would be far stranger if he didn’t think he could do more.

“I think we’ve got five guys out there who want a bigger role, and maybe more,” Raptors head coach Nick Nurse said. “I usually talk to all of them. I talk to O.G. constantly about it – just how he sees it, how we see it, what the plan is. It’s great to say stuff. It’s great to say, ‘I deserve a bigger role’ or to say, ‘My goals are this.’ Well, you’ve got to have a plan and follow those goals up, and we’ve worked on that plan.”

For what it’s worth, Anunoby was surprised to see his name pop up as often as it did, either in those aforementioned reports or various trade rumours.

“It was kind of random,” he said. “But I can’t control it.”

What he could control was the amount of work he put in over the off-season – not to prove that he deserves a bigger role, but to be ready for whatever’s thrown his way this season.

How was his summer?

“It was good,” he said.

Where did he spend most of it?

“I was all over. Nowhere in particular. Just all over.”

What did he work on?

“I worked on everything.”

How does one work on everything?

"I just worked on everything. Trying to get better.”

Okay, so he’s still not exactly an open book, but by all accounts, he had a strong off-season. The hope is that if he can continue to improve in every facet of the game, as he’s done in the past, the opportunities he seeks will come naturally. That’s the message he’s getting from Nurse and the front office.

“I think everyone is hopeful and everyone works hard to perform well and – I won’t say bigger role – but, I guess, do the best with what they’re given,” said Anunoby, who averaged career-highs of 17.1 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 48 games last season. “Make the most of your opportunities and try to find ways to be aggressive in the offence. That’s really the main thing.”

While Anunoby’s 2021-22 usage rate was a personal best, it still ranked fourth on the team behind Pascal Siakam, Fred VanVleet and Gary Trent Jr., and just ahead of Scottie Barnes, who should be more of a focal point in the offence as a sophomore.

In small samples, Anunoby has shown that he’s capable of carrying a bigger workload offensively. He looked like an all-star early last season, averaging 20.6 points over the first 10 games. Most recently, he scored 32 points on 21 shots in a 137-134 preseason win over Boston last week. The common dominator: Siakam wasn’t in the lineup for any of those contests after he missed the start of last season recovering from shoulder surgery and then getting a night off in the exhibition finale.

Barring an injury to one of the starters, it’s hard to see the offensive hierarchy changing to the point where Anunoby is a featured player every night. Whether or not he’s okay with that as a long-term reality is a question for another day – he’s under contract through 2024-25 but can opt out and become a free agent in the summer of 2024.

The cause for encouragement if you’re Anunoby, or any other Raptors player looking for a bigger piece of the pie, is that the team’s offence is relatively balanced. Siakam led them in usage rate last year but didn’t even rank inside the top-40 among qualified players in the NBA. VanVleet’s usage rate, second on the team, was uncommonly low for a point guard.

Last season, they were the only team in the league that had five players average 15 or more points. They’re pretty good about riding the hot hand, and with the depth of talent at the top end of their roster, that could be a different guy on any given night.

“It varies by the game,” said Trent. “Everybody in our starting lineup, and even guys coming off the bench, think they can average [20 points]. They believe in themselves, they believe in their craft and they care. They’ve proven it, they’ve showed it. So any given night it can be anybody.”

The biggest swing factor for Anunoby, as always, is durability; he’s missed 63 games over the past two seasons. The notion that he’s an injury-prone player isn’t entirely fair, and it’s not something the team buys into. So many of the ailments he’s dealt with since coming into the league have been fluke, unpreventable things. An emergency appendectomy on the eve of the 2019 playoffs, a hip pointer from a hard fall in practice, and more hits to the face than even he can keep track of. These things can happen.

However, he hasn’t always shown the ability or willingness to play through some of the bumps and bruises or aches and pains that the team has felt he could’ve and perhaps should’ve played through. For instance, on a couple occasions last season, Nurse made sure to point out that Anunoby had been medically cleared and that his timetable for return would come down to pain tolerance. That’s just not something teams reveal publicly very often.

The missed time has undoubtedly impacted his development, at least to some degree. He’ll be making strides when something takes him out of the lineup. Then, once he does get back, he’s forced to play catch up. One step forward and one step back.

First and foremost, he’ll need to stay on the floor. But provided he can give the Raptors 70-plus games, there’s still a lot to like about the player and the situation. He’s only 25. He’s hit 38 per cent of his threes over the past three seasons, has emerged as one of the league’s best and most versatile defenders at his – or any – position, and continues to expand his offensive repertoire.

If he’s aiming high, it’s because he should be aiming high. Regardless of what his role ends up looking like, he’ll be ready.

“As the season goes on, you figure out what plays you get or what spots you’re in on the floor or what actions you’re in, who you’re with,” Anunoby said. “So you figure that stuff out as the season goes and you try to work on all of it in the summer.”

“I know I’m getting better no matter what.”