Raptors Media Day has been interesting to say the least.
With a lot of uncertainty surrounding Pascal Siakam’s future with the Raptors, O.G. Anunoby is another player who is set to become an unrestricted free agent next summer.
Despite the ongoing rumors surrounding O.G. Anunoby’s contract situation, he made it clear that he loves Toronto and wants to be there:
OG Anunoby says he’ll let his agency handle his contract situation.
“I love Toronto and I want to be here.” pic.twitter.com/dILSUIb3UX
— Toronto Star Sports (@StarSports) October 2, 2023
This quote from O.G. comes in the mists of a report suggesting that Anunoby plans to enter free agency next summer.
According to NBA insider Marc Stein, he says that O.G. Anunoby will rebuff any extension attempts from the Raptors, to play out this season and proceed to free agency next summer.
According to Stein’s report, the Raptors’ maximum possible extension offer as of now is a four-year, $117-million deal, which wouldn’t be enough to keep Anunoby in Toronto.
The Toronto Raptors already lost a key player for nothing in Fred VanVleet, who signed with the Houston Rockets this past offseason. The Raptors’ nightmare scenario would be to lose more of their core players for nothing as well.
Anunoby is coming off his best season with the Raptors. He averaged 16.8 points, 5 rebounds and a league-leading 1.9 steals per game last season. His steals average was the highest mark across the NBA. Anunoby’s stellar defensive efforts, earned him his first career NBA All-Defensive team honors with a second-team selection last season.
The expectation is that O.G. Anunoby will get more touches and have a bigger role offensively this season.
Will O.G. Anunoby stay with the Raptors?
It wouldn’t come as a surprise if O.G. Anunoby doesn’t sign with the Raptors during the season and elects to decline his player option to become an unrestricted free agent next summer.
It would be in O.G. Anunoby’s best interest to hold out on a contract so he can receive a bigger pay day in the 2024 offseason.
However, the Raptors better be prepared to pay Anunoby what he desires. Especially since Anunoby has come out and said that he loves Toronto and wants to be here. Also, the Raptors have shown that they’ve been reluctant to trade Anunoby as well.
They reportedly didn’t want to ‘dangle’ Anunoby’s name in the Damian Lillard sweepstakes, so you would think they have plans of keeping him long term.
However, with the Raptors front office, everything is unknown at this point.
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