At the time, it seemed impossible for the to take their big swing without letting go of or . In the summer of 2018, the Raptors were coming off their fifth-consecutive playoff appearance but had run up against the inevitability of for the third time. They were on a 10-game playoff losing streak to The King and the , each spring exit more troubling than the last. After the sweep in May, the Raptors fired Dwane Casey, who was about to win coach of the year for guiding the team to a 59-win season.
To reach for a single strength in Anunoby’s defense is pointless. He is the rare player with both enough lower-body strength to fight with or and nimble enough feet to run through a maze of screens that both pick-and-roll maestros and off-ball threats use. He is the multi-positional defender who allows New York coach Tom Thibodeau to deploy the Knicks’ schemes aggressively.