OG Anunoby should benefit from full training camp with Knicks

None of the Knicks’ returning players is likely to benefit more from a full training camp with the team than OG Anunoby.

Last year’s key midseason acquisition got off to a promising start after his arrival from Toronto at the end of December, but multiple injuries in the second half — an elbow problem in late January that required surgery and a painful hamstring issue in the playoffs — derailed his first year in New York.

“This year I know what to expect more,” Anunoby said after practice Tuesday in Tarrytown, the Knicks’ first workout back home after training camp in Charleston. “Definitely having a whole training camp and season will definitely help out a lot.

“It’s been every day getting better and better. We’re figuring each other out, going through some mishaps here and there, but growing through it each and every day.”

After landing a five-year contract extension worth $212.5 million in the offseason, the 27-year-old Anunoby is firmly entrenched as one of the core players for a rising team that also acquired new starters Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns.

The Knicks went a whopping 26-6 with Anunoby in the lineup last season, playoffs included, although he only was able to last five minutes in their elimination loss to the Pacers in the second round due to his balky hamstring.

“It’s great, first to see him healthy again and just to start the year off with him,” All-Star point guard Jalen Brunson said of Anunoby. “It’s a lot easier when you have the team and go through training camp, make sure you’ve got your basics down.

“In-season trades are always tough for an individual learning an offensive scheme and defensive scheme. It’s just easier when you’re in training camp to learn all that stuff.”

The 6-foot-7 Anunoby, a former All-Defensive team selection as a member of the Raptors, was named Tuesday in a poll of league GMs as the second-most versatile defender in the league behind Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Anunoby also is a career 37.6 percent shooter from 3-point range, including 39.4 percent in the regular season with the Knicks, who will face the Wizards in a preseason game Wednesday night at the Garden.

“He missed a lot of time last year. … So we still gotta get reacclimated to everything we’re doing,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said of Anunoby. “Obviously you start at a zero base and you build. And that’s where we are. We’re building right now, but we have to understand that you build together. And so you’re asking everyone to share the floor, share the ball, and then be committed together defensively. And so that’s what we’re working on.”

Anunoby stressed that he’s not concerned about his offensive numbers, agreeing with Josh Hart’s recent assessment that everyone will need to sacrifice personal stats for the Knicks to compete for a championship.

“Yeah, but it’s also knowing that everyone’s gonna have their night,” Anunoby said. “Some nights it’s gonna be this guy, that guy, someone off the bench. At the end of the day, winning is the most important thing.”

Added Brunson: “It’s all about trying to find the right reads, make the right play at the right time. I mean, whatever it takes to win. We’re not sitting there saying, ‘Alright, I’m going to sacrifice this so you can do this.’ No, we’re out there, we’re playing the game and whatever we see we’re going to attack it. If we cross that bridge and something needs to be addressed then we address it. But we have guys that just want to win and do whatever it takes.”