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

Loser: R.J. Barrett

Yes, R.J. Barrett was eventually gonna lose minutes since his play with the Knicks had not been very efficient. Also yes, he does get to return home and play in front of Canada's only NBA team. Still from a pure basketball perspective, Barrett is a loser in this trade.

When his expensive contract extension was signed, Barrett looked like a player who was set to make the All-Star team and possibly more. Since then, he simply hasn't shot the ball exceedingly well. He has particularly struggled from inside the 3-point arc where his numbers have fallen precipitously.

While contract politics will allow Barrett to get heavy starter minutes for the beginning of his Raptors career, things could start to spiral out of control. The young player will not be facing DNPs anytime soon but Toronto is under no obligation to feature the player in the rotation if he continues to struggle.

Winner: Immanuel Quickley

Immanuel Quickley has a lot of talent but was unable to get enough minutes on New York's squad, buried a bit in the rotation. After this trade and with the Raptors most likely turning to a youth movement, Quickley could stand to play a lot more minutes while he also goes to a team that is more likely to make his free agency a lot shorter.

Quickley's free agency will be one where he doesn't have total control of the destination that he chooses to go since he'll be a restricted free agent. New York could have kept him if they simply chose to match his contract. This would have led to an unhappy situation for everyone involved wherein Quickley wouldn't be getting enough minutes to showcase all of his talent and New York would be wasting a roster spot and significant salary to keep a trade asset for a limited role.