Ben Stiller isn’t hiding what he wants from OG Anunoby this season.
While the Knicks were in the middle of their second preseason game, the longtime New York superfan jumped on X and kept it short and sharp: “OG ALL-STAR.” That was the message, and the message was clear.
It’s an easy case to make on paper. Anunoby has built a résumé that includes two championships and two All-Defensive Second Team selections, yet he still hasn’t landed an NBA All-Star nod. He’s entering his 11th year and his fourth with the Knicks after being acquired during the 2023-24 NBA season, and the hope is that this is finally the year that changes.
Anunoby’s path to this point has been a long one. He was taken in the first round of the 2017 NBA Draft by the Raptors after playing at Indiana. Before that, he was born in London, England, moved to the United States when he was four, and later played high school basketball at Jefferson City in Missouri.
The production has been there, even if the All-Star selection hasn’t. He has reached as high as 18 points per game in a season and earned a reputation as one of the league’s better defensive wings. Still, the All-Star call has never come.
What he does have are rings. He won one with Toronto and another with the Knicks in 2026, helping New York capture its first championship since 1973.
Last season, in his second full year with the Knicks, Anunoby averaged 16.7 points per game. That was down from the 18-point mark he posted the year before, but it also came while he was playing more than three fewer minutes per game.
His work in the 2025-26 season also brought him his second All-Defensive Second Team honor. He had previously earned that distinction in 2023 with the Raptors, the same season he led the league in steals per game at 1.9.
Now the Knicks are trying to do it again. Their regular season begins Tuesday, Oct. 20, against the Philadelphia 76ers. New York swept Philly in last season’s playoffs, but the Sixers have since added Jaylen Brown and LeBron James, making the road ahead even steeper.
In Other News...
Knicks May Finally Have A Real Way To Move On From Dadiet
Pacome Dadiets place on the Knicks roster has become one of those quiet front-office questions that can linger longer than the box score suggests. With New York looking for every possible bit of flexibility, the idea is less about a splashy move and more about creating space, both on the roster and in the cap picture, for a team that keeps trying to sharpen the edges of its depth.
What makes this discussion more workable now is the draft capital New York has collected, which could help grease the wheels if the Knicks decide Dadiet is a piece worth moving on from. The league always has a few teams willing to talk when the right mechanism is in play, and the Knicks appear to have enough resources to explore those paths without forcing a larger deal, even if the final decision still feels very much like something that will take more digging. [Read more 🡒]
Knicks Came Surprisingly Close To Watching Jalen Brunson Become The Enemy
Jalen Brunsons arrival in New York is one of the rare modern star moves that reshaped a franchise through free agency, and it still stands out because so few players of his caliber have changed teams that way this decade. For the Knicks, it has become the kind of signing that feels inevitable in hindsight, the sort of move that can make a front office look sharper long after the decision is made.
But the route to that reunion was a lot less straightforward than it seems now, with draft-night decisions and earlier trade discussions in Dallas helping shape the path that eventually sent Brunson to Manhattan. The Knicks were close enough to a very different reality that Brunson could have been wearing another uniform, and in a league where one altered draft or one different deal changes everything, that kind of near miss is the part worth remembering. [Read more 🡒]
Knicks Starters Are Showing Early Signs Fans Were Hoping For
The first few preseason looks have offered the kind of early reassurance Knicks fans were hoping to see, with the starting group already showing the outlines of a much more dangerous offense. OG Anunoby has looked more comfortable finding ways to draw fouls, and Mikal Bridges has carried over the physical, downhill style he flashed in the postseason, using his strength on drives to make defenders work from the opening games.
New York also appears intent on keeping its attack varied and harder to scout, with the ball not always sticking in one place for long. Brunsons rhythm has looked sharp as he works his way back from offseason wrist surgery, and the staff continues to put Towns in spots where he can help initiate things from the high post, a wrinkle that gives the Knicks another layer to explore as the preseason unfolds. [Read more 🡒]
