OG Anunoby trade: Winners and losers after Knicks land Raptors star

According to ESPN NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski, the New York Knicks have traded R.J. Barrett, Immanuel Quickley, and a 2024 second-round pick for OG Anunoby and Precious Achiuwa. The pick involved belonged to Detroit initially, making it a surely extremely high selection in Round 2 given that the Pistons haven't won a game in what feels like eternity.

From a roster standpoint, Toronto was sitting in a very weird spot. The Raptors traded their first-round pick for next season in order to upgrade at the center position and are still nowhere near the top teams in the East. The Knicks, meanwhile, had long been rumored to be chasing a star.

It's a blockbuster deal with several winners and losers, both involved with the trade and not. Let's find out who they are.

Winner: OG Anunoby

OG Anunoby was going into this season with many questions about his future. After this trade, Anunoby will have a clear option to stay in New York if he chooses to. After trading two young players for the defensive wing, it can be assumed that the Knicks will offer Anunoby a big contract this offseason if he chooses to opt out of his player option for next season.

Anunoby will also have a bigger role on his new team with the veteran most likely having a bigger offensive impact, or at least more usage on that end of the floor. While New York will probably not be in the title conversation for a title this season, the team will most likely head to the Play-In at the very least. With Anunoby's contributions, New York can perform far better than they have in recent weeks.

This trade could allow the team to easily make the playoffs as one of the higher seeds. That's a much better situation for Anunoby to enter via this trade and he'll have a noticeably bigger role in their success than whatever the Raptors accomplish this season.