OG Anunoby took a clear leap toward stardom during the 2026 NBA Playoffs. The New York Knicks forward averaged 20.1 points per game during the postseason, evolving before fans' eyes into a star-caliber scoring threat who played a pivotal role in ending a 53-year championship drought.
The key to Anunoby merging his success in the playoffs with his regular season results, however, is overcoming a major hurdle: Glaring inefficiency when creating his own offense.
Anunoby is one of the best in the NBA at working without the ball. Whether he's burying open jump shots or attacking closeouts, his off-ball positioning and quick decision-making allow him to turn off-ball activity into a wide array of scoring opportunities.
That was on display during the 2025-26 regular season, as he ranked in the 73rd percentile in off-ball movement and the 88th percentile in off-ball gravity, per Basketball Index.
Furthermore, Anunoby shot 41.6 percent on catch-and-shoot threes in 2025-26. He leaned into his strength in that regard, attempting 7.4 of his 12.0 field goal attempts per game within 2.0 seconds of first touching the ball.
The hurdle that Anunoby must clear to become the true star he seems capable of being: Fixing his woeful inefficiency as an isolation player and general shot creator.
OG Anunoby thrives in off-ball role, struggles with shot creation
Anunoby shot 23.9 percent on pull-up threes during the 2025-26 regular season. That's a sharp decline from his catch-and-shoot efficiency. He shot 50.6 percent on drives, thus seemingly offsetting the concern, but did so while attempting just 2.5 field goals in such scenarios.
That only scratches the surface of how far Anunoby is from being a reliable shot creator—no matter how many flashes of brilliance he showed during the playoffs.
While Anunoby ranked in the 84th percentile in off-ball shot making efficiency, he finished in the third percentile in self-created shot making efficiency, per Basketball Index. He also ranked in the second percentile in one on one shot making efficiency.
To put it simply: The path to Anunoby achieving true stardom as an offensive player in the regular season is being at least serviceable as an individual shot creator.
Anunoby has the luxury of playing next to an elite isolation scorer in Jalen Brunson and an all-around offensive force in Karl-Anthony Towns. He's also a part of a rotation that's flush with high-level two-way players who ensure that no one after Brunson is terribly overburdened with scoring responsibilities.
If Anunoby is going to achieve true two-way stardom, however, then he must fix the glaring weakness that is his individual shot creation.
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