Nick Nurse Makes the Case for O.G. Anunoby as Defensive Award Recipient

Toronto Raptors coach Nick Nurse says O.G. Anunoby deserves consideration for the NBA's defensive honors this season

Kiyoshi Mio-USA TODAY Sports

The Toronto Raptors are one of just 11 teams to never have a defensive player of the year award winner and, frankly, they’ve never been particularly close too.

In 28 seasons, Toronto has had just one player, Kawhi Leonard, earn all-defense honors. It was a second-team honors in 2018-19 on route to the Raptors’ championship that season. The organization has never even had a first-team member and that’s not about to change this year.

For all the talk about O.G. Anunoby’s defense this season, league defensive honors remain almost entirely out of reach.

Why?

Well, it hasn’t helped that Toronto has ranked as a below-league-average defense for almost the entire season and the team’s sub-.500 record makes it almost impossible to earn league honors.

Over the past six seasons, only two players Jrue Holiday and Anthony Davis have earned all-defensive honors on losing teams. Holiday did it for the 2018-19 New Orleans Pelicans who ranked 22nd in defense that season. By that time, though, he’d made a name for himself, having earned first-team honors the year before. Two years earlier, David did it for the 2016-17 Pelicans who ranked ninth in defensive rating. It was also his second time making an all-defense team.

Anunoby isn’t likely to have quite the same luck. Toronto sits three games below. 500 and while his play is certainly noteworthy in the coaching ranks, it doesn’t resonate the same way as some of the league’s other elite defenders.

That, however, hasn’t stopped Raptors coach Nick Nurse from stumping for his 6-foot-7 versatile forward.

“I’m not sure who’s as versatile, period, and who’s as effective, even on the winning teams,” Nurse told reporters following Wednesday’s practice. “He’s certainly an all-defensive team player in my mind, for sure, if not the winner of the [Defensive Player of the Year] award.”

It’s helped, Nurse said, to have Anunoby back closer to full strength. He’d been battling injuries to both his hands earlier in the season and it was clearly impacting his offensive numbers.

Between mid-January and late February, Anunoby was shooting 31.5% on three-pointers, well below his career average of 37%. Since the start of March, he’s been almost unstoppable from behind the arc, connecting at a 45.2% clip.

While offensive numbers aren’t supposed to be considered in defensive honors conversations, it’s hard to not view a player’s impact holistically. And being able to bring it at both ends as a true two-way player is what makes Anunoby so special compared to two-time all-defensive honors recipient Matisse Thybulle, for example.

“Just being able to maintain energy throughout the game. Guarding those [superstar] players takes a lot of energy,” Scottie Barnes said of Anunoby Wednesday. “But he’s able to bring it still on both ends of the floor. He guarded AD, but was able to bring it, had a great game against the Lakers. Guarded Jokic yesterday and still managed 24. He’s able to play both ends and that just shows how good he is.”