OG Anunoby wasn’t supposed to be ready to play by now. In late January he underwent surgery on his right knee after suffering a gnarly injury during a game between his Indiana Hoosiers and Penn State. Pegged as a likely lottery pick at the time — and the top non-freshman — the 19-year-old sophomore’s draft stock dropped immediately given the expected recovery time and questions of how the injury would affect a player whose game was built in large part off his explosive athletic ability.

So he dropped to the Raptors at 23rd overall, a fair spot for a prospect with clear uncertainties about his health, even though most everyone acknowledged that he was a good bet to outperform his draft position as soon as he got the chance.

And here we are. Not only is Anunoby healthy ahead of schedule, but coming out of pre-season he already appears to have comfortably passed both Pascal Siakam and Bruno Caboclo on the Raps depth chart as the backup power forward. His performance in Toronto’s regular season opener on Thursday night proved why.

He’s a versatile player who was drafted mainly for his defensive potential, but he’s shown an ability to shoot from deep and isn’t afraid to initiate contact around the rim, where he’s already one of the Raptors’ most powerful finishers.

Anonuby’s Game 1 numbers won’t jump out at you — except for his team-best plus-26 rating — but after registering nine points, three rebounds and two assists in 17 minutes of action playing with a second unit that won the game for the Raps and flat-out blew the Bulls off the court, there’s enough reason to believe the rookie will continue to be a fixture in the team’s rotation.

The fourth-youngest first-round pick to debut with the Raptors, his first NBA foray ranks right up there among rookies in team history. Here’s a look at how Anunoby’s first NBA game stacks up against every other Toronto first rounder by a variety of stats, including Game Score (via Basketball Reference):