Tag / OG Anunoby

by Alex Fischbein

OG Anunoby, RJ Barrett, and The Knicks ft Scott “The King” Engel | TAF300

On episode 300 of The Atlantic Files, we’re joined by a special guest, Scott “The King” Engel. He’s an FSWA Hall of Famer, Senior Writer at The Game Day and RotoBaller, Fantasy Writer for seahawks.com, and a Sirius XM Fantasy Sports Radio host. We talk about OG Anunoby moving to the New York Knicks for RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley, the Memphis Grizzlies’ plan with Ja Morant out, the Philadelphia 76ers with Joel Embiid’s injuries, and the initial 2024 NBA All-Star voting returns.

Scott Engel has been in the fantasy sports writing business for over 20 years and is one of the industry’s pioneers. We go over how he got into journalism, his favorite athletes of all time, and how he began playing fantasy sports. Engel gives a lot of great nuggets of information and talks about some of the people he’s met along the way.

Then, we got into the OG Anunoby trade and how he’s fared with the New York Knicks so far. Anunoby has been a great fit and the team has gone undefeated since he joined the starting lineup. Do the Knicks need to make any more moves to be serious title contenders?

On the flip side, RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley joined the Toronto Raptors and took another step in their young careers. Is this the best place for their development? Also, we talk about a potential Pascal Siakam trade and how the Raptors will go about building for the future with Scottie Barnes.

Finally, we go over the initial voting returns for the 2024 NBA All-Star game. We talk about those who have been snubbed, some surprise names, and why fans can’t ever get it fully correct when it comes to voting the right guys into the game. Also, are there any good All-Star games anymore in any of the major sports?

Check out Scott Engel’s work!
The Gameday – https://thegameday.com/author/scott-engel/
RotoBaller – https://www.rotoballer.com/author/scottetheking
Seahawks.com – https://www.seahawks.com/news/fantasy-insider/

Timecodes:
00:00:00 Intro
00:01:58 Scott “The King” Engel joins the show
00:11:49 Scott Engel talks New York Mets and baseball fandom
00:15:33 Dr. Pepper Zero vs Coke Zero and favorite food
00:25:50 OG Anunoby and the New York Knicks
00:49:49 RJ Barrett, Immanuel Quickley, and the Toronto Raptors future
01:03:28 2024 NBA All-Star voting returns
01:12:41 Closing thoughts

by Alex Fischbein

Bradley Beal Finally Traded To The Phoenix Suns | TAF276

In episode 276 of The Atlantic Files, Bradley Beal finally waives his no-trade clause to go to the Phoenix Suns, Chris Paul heads to Washington with a possibility of another trade or free agency, Draymond Green heads to free agency after declining his option, James Harden may be coming back to Philadelphia now, and much more!

Bradley Beal is finally free of the clutches of mediocrity and on his way to create a superteam in Phoenix with Devin Booker and Kevin Durant. The Wizards didn’t get much in return, but they cleared up a ton of cap space for years to come. The biggest question mark will be whether or not the Suns can stay healthy enough to actually make the NBA Finals let alone win it all.

Now, with Chris Paul heading to Washington, the next step is to figure out where they’re going to ship him next. The leading odds seem to be either of the two teams in Los Angeles, but no one is sure if that’s going to be after getting waived or in a trade.

Then, there’s James Harden still floating around after his unsuccessful leverage play with the Houston Rockets. So he’s likely to return to Philadelphia with the hope that he still gets what he wanted in terms of more money and the freedom to play basketball as he wants. It doesn’t seem like his style of basketball is going to win anything important anytime soon though.

Finally, we go over all of the rumors and happenings across the league ahead of the NBA Draft and free agency. Draymond Green declined his option, Jonathan Kuminga could be traded, Fred VanVleet is seeking $30 million from a team in free agency, the Raptors still don’t want to trade OG Anunoby, and more!

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Timecodes:
00:00:00 Introduction
00:15:54 Bradley Beal traded to Phoenix
00:30:49 Where Will Chris Paul go?
00:36:35 James Harden back to Philadelphia now
00:42:01 NBA Trade, free agency, and Draft rumors
01:04:16 Outro

Jalen Brunson, New York Knicks, Scottie Barnes, Toronto Raptors, Atlantic Files
by Alex Fischbein

New York Knicks & Toronto Raptors Heading Opposite Ways | TAF256

On this week’s episode of The Atlantic Files, the New York Knicks and Toronto Raptors are headed in separate directions as the Knicks are on a hot streak and the Raptors are sinking fast, Anthony Davis and Stephen Curry both get hurt while Joe Ingles is set to return, James Harden reveals a lot in his interview about why he left Brooklyn, would Mexico City be a good expansion city for the NBA, and more!

The Toronto Raptors were on a big losing skid before a 52-point game by Pascal Siakam finally allowed them to break it. As of right now, they’re barely hanging on to a play-in spot at the 10th seed. Is it time for this team to finally hit the panic button and look toward the trade market, or do they still have what it takes to make a deep playoff run?

On the opposite end of the spectrum, the New York Knicks are on a big win streak right now. They’ve shot all the way up to the sixth seed in the East. Their core guys are all contributing in big ways and Tom Thibodeau’s job looks secure for now. There’s always plenty of time for the Knicks to pull a Knicks-ish move before the season ends.

James Harden sat down for an interview to give some insight on why he decided to ask for a trade to get out of Brooklyn. He brought to light a lot of things that people were speculating about and a couple of surprising facts about the rest of the team. He ended everything by asking if he was still a quitter if the main superstar on the team also asked to get out of there.

There have been a few major injuries and some returns that have taken place recently. Anthony Davis, Stephen Curry, and Brandon Ingram have all either been out or are out now for an extended period of time. Joe Ingles is making his return to his new team after his torn ACL and Markelle Fultz has returned too. What type of impact do all of these things have?

Finally, Adam Silver talked about how Mexico City was putting in a lot of work to get an NBA expansion team in their city. Should Mexico City even be near the top of the list to get a team, or are they a few more American cities that need a team before they start looking internationally?

SUBSCRIBE to Apple Podcasts or Spotify so you don’t miss a new episode!

Timecodes:
00:00:00 Intro
00:09:46 Time for the Toronto Raptors to hit the panic button?
00:27:47 Are the New York Knicks a playoff team?
00:44:06 NBA creating a Mexico City expansion team
00:53:50 Why James Harden really wanted out of Brooklyn
01:09:29 Major injuries and returns: Stephen Curry, Anthony Davis, and Joe Ingles
01:14:33 Outro

Al Horford, Boston Celtics
by Alex Fischbein

Last night in the Atlantic (11/15/21)

Boston and New York grab themselves a win while Toronto continues their slide. Which makes it weirder that Toronto was also the one with the best offense in their respective games.

Standings:
Brooklyn Nets 10-4
Philadelphia 76ers 8-6
New York Knicks 8-6
Boston Celtics 7-7
Toronto Raptors 7-8

So let’s talk about last night!

Al Horford

Al Horford is the one getting highlighted right now, instead of Jayson Tatum, because he made the same amount shots that Tatum did in 10 fewer attempts. He also hit one more three but didn’t get the free throws to bolster his point total. Horford has been playing some very meaningful minutes lately as the Celtics have needed him dearly in every win of theirs. He’s provided the inside presence when Robert Williams isn’t on the floor and he’s also given them some floor spacing and defensive leadership. While it was a great move to bring him back this season, they’re still going to need a bit more than just Horford. He ended up with 17p, 9r, 3a, & 2b.

OG Anunoby

OG Anunoby cashed in another great offensive night for the Toronto Raptors. 29 points on 9-19 from the floor and 6-10 from three is not too shabby of a performance. Everyone in the starting five actually shot 42% or higher, but the bench minutes were the biggest minus in this game. That’s where Portland started pulling away, any time each time had their bench players in. Anunoby, on the other hand, added 6r, 2a, 3s to his 29 and did a great job keeping the Raptors in this game.

Derrick Rose

This New York Knicks game was quite ugly. Which has been the case the last handful of games if we’re being honest. Derrick Rose put together a nice stat line off the bench with 14p, 5r, & 7a. The main reason I decided to highlight him over the leading scorer, Kemba Walker, is because he also took the team on their best scoring runs. Rose was +21 compared to Walker’s -15 because he was affecting the game in more ways than just straight scoring. There have been legitimate arguments for Derrick Rose being moved to starting point guard, but it looks like there are more issues than just that in the month of November.

Ben Simmons

Ben Simmons is receiving fines yet again. This time for missing the team’s west coast road trip. If you listen to the latest episode of our podcast, we talked a bit about this saga and the role Rich Paul is playing in the whole thing. I wish both sides would just set the record straight without having to talk through agents, media, and other talking heads. Once this is resolved, both parties can finally breathe a sigh of relief and just move on with life.

OG Anunoby, Toronto Raptors
by Alex Fischbein

Last night in the Atlantic! (11/1/21)

Honestly, all three Atlantic games ended with quite surprising results! Didn’t really see the Raptors pulling out a tough win over the Knicks and swore the Sixers had no chance without Joel Embiid nor Tobias Harris. Let’s talk about last night!

Standings:
New York Knicks 5-2
Philadelphia 76ers 5-2
Toronto Raptors 5-3
Brooklyn Nets 4-3
Boston Celtics 2-5

OG Anunoby

OG Anunoby cashed in a big-time night! In a game where the Raptors especially weren’t supposed to win without Scottie Barnes over a good New York Knicks team, Anunoby took control. This is the exact kind of performance that the Raptors were hoping to see more of and what will move him up the MIP ladder. The fact he was able to score like he did, in all of the various ways that he did, against a defense like the Knicks bodes well for the Raptors future. His slow start is starting to turn into a scorching hot streak that could even last a whole season if he starts to turn into what we predicted him to be this season.

Georges Niang

Georges Niang was that guy last night! He was the one to step up outside of the normal starters for the Sixers. His offensive production and timely buckets were needed ten-fold as the team didn’t even have Joel Embiid nor Tobias Harris for a tough matchup against the Blazers. As the fans chanted for Lillard, who shot 7-20, Niang was going to work to the tune of 21p, 5r, 5a on 43.8% from the field. The funny thing is that he does look slow a lot of the time, but his anticipation and his shooting prowess allow him to counterbalance that a lot of the time.

Al Horford

Boston drops yet another game, but Al Horford definitely gave it his all to keep the lead they built up until the end of the third quarter. Once it hit the final quarter, all bets were off as Chicago outscored Boston 39-11. Horford, however, was trying to be the steadying force outside of Brown/Tatum as he put up 20p, 10, 3a. It got so bad with this game that even Marcus Smart called out Tatum and Brown for not involving the rest of the team on offense enough. Usually, that’s the kind of thing a team hopes that Horford would do since he’s supposed to be the veteran leader, but I guess that’s Marcus Smart’s thing instead.