OG Anunoby Health Adds Extra Boost to Knicks Season

The New York Knicks are healthy going into the season.

Jeremy Brener | Oct 10, 2024

May 6, 2024; New York, New York, USA; New York Knicks forward OG Anunoby (8) reacts after a basket during the second quarter of game one of the second round of the 2024 NBA playoffs against the Indiana Pacers at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images / Brad Penner-Imagn Images

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New York Knicks

The New York Knicks are less than two weeks away from the start of the regular season, and they are currently healthy in the middle of training camp.

Someone who struggled to stay healthy last season was OG Anunoby, who played in just 50 games for the Toronto Raptors and Knicks last year.

Anunoby was traded in late December, forcing him to learn on the fly with the Knicks. But now that he has a full training camp with the Knicks, star point guard Jalen Brunson believes he will be better than where he was before.

“It’s great, first to see him healthy again and just to start the year off with him," Brunson said.“It’s a lot easier when you have the whole team and go through training camp, [making] sure you’ve got your basics down. ... In-season trades are always tough for an individual learning an offensive scheme and defensive scheme. It’s just easier when you’re in training camp to learn all that stuff.”

Now that Anunoby is healthy and in camp, he'll have the ability to learn the schemes alongside his teammates rather than pick up enough things on the fly. While in-season trades are important for teams to improve where they need to, the last five champions have stood pat at the deadline. Their familiarity with one another throughout the whole season likely helped their chances at winning it all.

That's why the Knicks made their Karl-Anthony Towns trade when they did rather than make a deal later down the line. With Towns, Anunoby and Mikal Bridges all with the team in training camp, the Knicks have made their biggest deals and can go into the season full speed ahead as they hope to make an even deeper run in the Eastern Conference playoffs.

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Published Oct 10, 2024

JEREMY BRENER

Jeremy Brener is an editor, writer and social media manager for several Fan Nation websites. His work has also been featured in 247 Sports and SB Nation as a writer and podcaster. Brener has been with Fan Nation since 2021. Brener grew up in Houston, going to Astros, Rockets and Texans games as a kid. He moved to Orlando in 2016 to go to college and pursue a degree. He hosts "The Dream Take" podcast covering the Rockets, which has produced over 350 episodes since March 2020. Brener graduated in May 2020 from the University of Central Florida with a Bachelor's degree in Broadcast Journalism minoring in Sport Business Management. While at UCF, Brener worked for the school's newspaper NSM.today and "Hitting the Field," a student-run sports talk show and network. He was the executive producer for "Hitting the Field" from 2019-20. During his professional career, Brener has covered a number of major sporting events including the Pro Bowl, March Madness and several NBA and NFL games. As a fan, Brener has been to the 2005 World Series, 2010 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 NCAA National Championship between the Villanova Wildcats and North Carolina Tar Heels. Now, Brener still resides in the Central Florida area and enjoys writing, watching TV, hanging out with friends and going to the gym. Brener can be followed on Twitter @JeremyBrener. For more inquiries, please email jeremybrenerchs@gmail.com.