Just a few hours ago, famous NBA commentator Adrian Wojnarowski announced the first trade of the season. An agreement between two Eastern Conference teams, the New York Knicks and the Toronto Raptors, that raises questions about the goals, future direction and ambitions of the teams. Are the starting points of these teams now considered better, given the plans of each?
What season results led to this trade? About the beginning of the season. For the Toronto team, this fall has been like the first, real awakening after the NBA title of 2019, which is quite long ago. For the last four years, the team still lived in such a half-illusion that we have title players who have the experience to reach the highest and we will soon be back. This is how the team messed around, adding some players, replacing some, but keeping the trio of Pascal Siakam, Augie Anunoby and now the new leader Scotty Barnes. With the idea that if the circumstances coincide, we still can. The start of this season has been like an ice bath, which the franchise management was already waiting for, but couldn’t wait to get into. The season started with 12 wins, 19 losses and 12th place in the Eastern Conference. The play-in position is within reach, but do the Raptors need it? I think not. They could have responded as early as last season, but this is a good time to start rebuilding around Scotty Barnes. It’s a pity that it’s only around him, because there aren’t really any serious young talents anymore.
The New York Knicks are the New York Knicks – for them, any season is an all-or-nothing season. You could wake up on any day of the season for the last four years, open the standings, and every time you’d see NYK somewhere between 5th-8th. place in the conference. They don’t have any superstars, even after this trade, but are one step closer to convincing one of them to join the Knicks. Tom Thibodeau-style, the team plays toothy basketball night in and night out, which is frustrating for any relaxed Wednesday night opponent. The coach does not guarantee minutes to anyone, his players respect him and therefore relaxation is not often found on the field. Historically and also reading at the rumor level about what the Knicks’ acquisition plans have been, it is clear that they are not planning to rebuild. And this trade is far from the worst thing that could have happened to the team. Well, this team becomes even more interesting not only because it is based in New York, but because they will be able to make teams take a bite more painful.
NBA: ???? Trade.
“Knicks” get Oji Anunoby, Presha Achuva.
Raptors get Immanuel Quickley, Arjay Barrett, 2nd round draft pick. pic.twitter.com/7s1wFjQk6b— Latvian Fantasy League (@LatvijasFantasy) December 30, 2023
Clearly, the centerpiece of the deal is Augie Anunoby. It is not for nothing that the Toronto team for a good while dreamed of at least partially building the team around him. It didn’t happen for various, objective reasons, and we can see what color shirt he has on his torso now. The planned starting point, after acquiring this player, became more expressive for the New York team. Augie ticks off almost everything Tom Thibodeau’s pad has written down. A player who can excel in covering players at all positions, who executes the assignment with precision, who is important in winning basketball.
Quickley and Barrett sent away to Toronto. Men who, like some in Latvian hockey, have been considered young, promising for several years. If it hasn’t happened to a mediocre New York team, I don’t believe they will be able to play winning basketball in Toronto. I have less doubts about bright game cutouts. And opportunities, especially for Arjay Barrett, were plentiful in New York, but the offensive arsenal was so predictable and simple that it looked like high school at times. Immanuel Quickley is a significantly more interesting player. He will be 25 this summer, which does not inspire confidence. A simple question immediately arises. Couldn’t he have earned a place in the starting five in four years in New York, if Toronto now sees itself achieving something big with Immanuel? I would like to believe that Immanuel will come now a dinosaur in the team, will go to the field in the starting five, will play more than 30 minutes in every match and will at least flash some very valuable moment on the floor. Today, I think he’s up in the New York limelight, humpal Lou Williams. Defensively, he’s too big of a hole for his solid offense to save him in really important basketball games. But he has clearly improved and stabilized his abilities.
Along with Anunoby, role players are also going to New York – tall player Prešas Ačuvas and teammate Malaki Flynns. There will definitely be moments when both will help win, but for the most part their role will not change. Both will fill exactly the positions where New York has a shortage of players. Flynn will likely become the second running back behind Jalen Branson. Preša Ačuva will fill the second center position behind Hartenstein, where there is no other competitor at all. Not counting veteran Taj Gibson. The total number of minutes spent on the pitch will not really change, they will remain within the existing 15-20.
In relation to Fantasy, the immediate explosion is not visible to anyone involved in the transaction, except for Immanuel Quickley. The next closest would be Preša Ačuva, whose minutes in the first games can be an interesting sight.
Exit points.
New York plans to win as many games as possible. And that is what they have successfully done with the acquisition of the acquired players. An interesting fact is that by the end of tomorrow, New York can manage to conclude a new, four-year contract with Oji up to the value of 116.9 million. Starting Sunday, he will be eligible for a two-year, $40 million extension. The next option is to continue to work together and then sit down at the discussion table for the 19.9 million player option for next season and all the options that follow from that.
Toronto plans to, shall we say, start losing and glue the team back together again. It should be recalled that Arjay Barrett has three more years in his current contract, in which he will earn more than 25 million dollars each. It may well be that the change of team improves his productivity, with Barrett becoming what many expected in the draft. But right now I only see him as an overpaid Canadian on the Canadian team. So that the local fans have some fun while the team loses. Immanuel Quickley is very likely to play in the starting five, but I don’t see him becoming anything more than a decent sixth player in a high-level team in the future. This and the next year of the contract will be like a cheap experiment for the Toronto team – will we fight with Immanuel or not.
What are your predictions and thoughts on the first NBA trade of the season?
