OG Anunoby may have missed out on All-Defense honors this past season, but that hasn't stopped folks from recognizing how he's armed the New York Knicks with the league's most versatile defender.
During a recent episode of the Game Theory Podcast with Sam Vecenie, the host himself called him the NBA's most switchable defender.
“I think I would argue…he might be the most switchable player in the league to me, is what I would say,” Vecenie explained (at around the 33:12 mark). “Just in terms of being able to take matchups. He will take Joel Embiid in the playoffs, like in 2024, and be able to guard him, be able to disrupt him and have no issues. Then he will take guards, and there will be no issues.”
No arguments here.
The term “five-position defender” gets thrown around a lot. Most of the time, it’s in reference to someone who can guard three or four spots. Anunoby is among the few exceptions. He might be the only exception.
OG Anunoby’s versatility is basically unmatched
Anunoby’s defensive malleability is something you feel just by watching him. The Knicks generally did not employ switch-heavy schemes under Tom Thibodeau, but OG’s versatility was critical to their disruption of the Boston Celtics during the conference semifinals.
More importantly, the proof is in OG’s defensive matchups. According to Ball Index, just two players last season spent at least half their time covering 3s and 4s while also logging at least 10 percent of their possessions apiece against point guards, shooting guards, and centers. One was OG Anunoby. Pascal Siakam was the other.
The player-specific matchups tell the same story. Paul George, Jalen Johnson, RJ Barrett, Tobias Harris, Jayson Tatum, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Devin Booker, James Harden, DeMar DeRozan, Brandon Miller, Cam Thomas, Jalen Williams, and Siakam were the players Anunoby lined up against most often last season.
Imagine looking at this list of assignments without already knowing it was OG. You wouldn’t be able to identify anything about him, other than that he’s not a center.
This is why the Knicks traded and paid OG
Pretty much everyone is in agreement that, in the end, New York didn’t give up too much for its defensive fulcrum. The contract he’s now on is a separate matter. People see his five-year, $212.5 million deal, consider his offensive limitations and injury history, and default to the “He’s overpaid stance.”
Availability concerns hold some weight. When healthy, though, Anunoby earns his paycheck with defensive versatility alone.
It doesn’t always show up in the data, but that’s almost by design. Anunoby is responsible for covering up so many of the Knicks’ weaknesses. Over 92 percent of Karl-Anthony Towns’ minutes came alongside him last season, for obvious reasons. That New York notched a defensive rating in the vicinity of league average during those stretches is a minor miracle.
This says nothing of Anunoby’s offensive growth. He proved that he was ready for a more central role when Jalen Brunson missed time with a sprained right ankle. He may now get to permanently elevate his place in the offensive pecking order under Mike Brown.
So not only do the Knicks have the NBA’s most versatile defender, but he might just have more layers to his on-ball offense than most realize. That’s a terrifying notion when you really think about it—for 29 other teams.