Official Ochai Agbaji Thread - Welcome to Toronto, Ochai!

[mtcan]

This video is a pretty good take on Ochai.

Watch on YouTube

Raptors traded for him because he a good athlete that can shoot corner 3's, slash, finish and defend well. We are not asking him to be the creator, those job is for Barnes, Barrett and Quickley.

I am asking Ochai to be a creator and a better version of Michael Jordan immediately. I want a team full of GOAT and future hall of famers right now, so Ochai better step up his game.

What's better than having one MJ? A roster with 15 guys all of the caliber and ego of MJ. What could go wrong?

[Thaddy]

He looks like a fusion of OG and Norm Powell. I can't believe he was given up for such a cheap price. I have a good feeling he'll put together a solid string of games to finish the season. Great find by Masai and Darko should tap into his potential. He's a championship piece moving forward if you take all around skill, physical and character traits into account.

[LBJKB24MJ23]

He looks like a fusion of OG and Norm Powell. I can't believe he was given up for such a cheap price. I have a good feeling he'll put together a solid string of games to finish the season. Great find by Masai and Darko should tap into his potential. He's a championship piece moving forward if you take all around skill, physical and character traits into account.

oh come on man. its not like he has done anything of any significance. There is a huge gap from where we want him to be versus how raw he still is.

as far as physical and character traits go, yes he seems like a good kid but skill wise, he's at the end of the bench of most or all NBA teams that are decent.

i'm cheering for him but lets not overhype him to be of OG and Norm, capable starter/6th man on good teams. even though he had some highlight plays, some really big question marks if he can really put it together. putting up 20 shots to get 13 points.

[YogurtProducer]

He looks like a fusion of OG and Norm Powell. I can't believe he was given up for such a cheap price. I have a good feeling he'll put together a solid string of games to finish the season. Great find by Masai and Darko should tap into his potential. He's a championship piece moving forward if you take all around skill, physical and character traits into account.

oh come on man. its not like he has done anything of any significance. There is a huge gap from where we want him to be versus how raw he still is.

as far as physical and character traits go, yes he seems like a good kid but skill wise, he's at the end of the bench of most or all NBA teams that are decent.

i'm cheering for him but lets not overhype him to be of OG and Norm, capable starter/6th man on good teams. even though he had some highlight plays, some really big question marks if he can really put it together. putting up 20 shots to get 13 points.

His efficiency looks worse than his play. I feel like he missed a bunch of stuff at the rim that will usually go in.

Also - he just needs to stop shooting non corner 3's.

As a Raptor he is shooting 14.3% on above the break 3's, and 38.5% on corner 3's.

If he can just stick to the corner we have ourselves a pretty solid player. In the off-season he can work on extending the range

[InfraRedshaw]

He looks like a fusion of OG and Norm Powell. I can't believe he was given up for such a cheap price. I have a good feeling he'll put together a solid string of games to finish the season. Great find by Masai and Darko should tap into his potential. He's a championship piece moving forward if you take all around skill, physical and character traits into account.

I was thinking he's like a mix of Danny Green and Norm myself

Norm had a pretty solid dribble compared to Ochai, and could create his own, where Green more the spot up guy like Ochai

I could see how there some OG sprinkles in there too maybe

Either way this feels likely much better than we would have gotten out of a late first (and we would have had too many rookies next season and would likely for a draft and stash)

[LBJKB24MJ23]

He looks like a fusion of OG and Norm Powell. I can't believe he was given up for such a cheap price. I have a good feeling he'll put together a solid string of games to finish the season. Great find by Masai and Darko should tap into his potential. He's a championship piece moving forward if you take all around skill, physical and character traits into account.

oh come on man. its not like he has done anything of any significance. There is a huge gap from where we want him to be versus how raw he still is.

as far as physical and character traits go, yes he seems like a good kid but skill wise, he's at the end of the bench of most or all NBA teams that are decent.

i'm cheering for him but lets not overhype him to be of OG and Norm, capable starter/6th man on good teams. even though he had some highlight plays, some really big question marks if he can really put it together. putting up 20 shots to get 13 points.

His efficiency looks worse than his play. I feel like he missed a bunch of stuff at the rim that will usually go in.

Also - he just needs to stop shooting non corner 3's.

As a Raptor he is shooting 14.3% on above the break 3's, and 38.5% on corner 3's.

If he can just stick to the corner we have ourselves a pretty solid player. In the off-season he can work on extending the range

i feel thats his problem though. completing plays and hitting shots he should be making at the NBA level. consistency on that level seems to be his problem. otherwise he's just a bad chucker as of right now.

the problem is him and the Raptors don't seem to be keeping players into boxed roles as of yet. which i'm fine with since this team needs to grow and players need to show if they can play against NBA talent.

[YogurtProducer]

oh come on man. its not like he has done anything of any significance. There is a huge gap from where we want him to be versus how raw he still is.

as far as physical and character traits go, yes he seems like a good kid but skill wise, he's at the end of the bench of most or all NBA teams that are decent.

i'm cheering for him but lets not overhype him to be of OG and Norm, capable starter/6th man on good teams. even though he had some highlight plays, some really big question marks if he can really put it together. putting up 20 shots to get 13 points.

His efficiency looks worse than his play. I feel like he missed a bunch of stuff at the rim that will usually go in.

Also - he just needs to stop shooting non corner 3's.

As a Raptor he is shooting 14.3% on above the break 3's, and 38.5% on corner 3's.

If he can just stick to the corner we have ourselves a pretty solid player. In the off-season he can work on extending the range

i feel thats his problem though. completing plays and hitting shots he should be making at the NBA level. consistency on that level seems to be his problem. otherwise he's just a bad chucker as of right now.

the problem is him and the Raptors don't seem to be keeping players into boxed roles as of yet. which i'm fine with since this team needs to grow and players need to show if they can play against NBA talent.

The guy averaged 10 shots per 36 in his career - that is FAR from being a chucker. 35% of his shots in Toronto came yesterday

He really has been decent for his entire career outside of the non-corner 3. Shoots 41% from the midrange, 66% at the rim, 43% from the corner 3, etc.

He has shot the 3 below his career averages so far in his 9 games, and he has not finished as good as he did in Utah. I am pretty sure that is gonna normalize out.

[LBJKB24MJ23]

His efficiency looks worse than his play. I feel like he missed a bunch of stuff at the rim that will usually go in.

Also - he just needs to stop shooting non corner 3's.

As a Raptor he is shooting 14.3% on above the break 3's, and 38.5% on corner 3's.

If he can just stick to the corner we have ourselves a pretty solid player. In the off-season he can work on extending the range

i feel thats his problem though. completing plays and hitting shots he should be making at the NBA level. consistency on that level seems to be his problem. otherwise he's just a bad chucker as of right now.

the problem is him and the Raptors don't seem to be keeping players into boxed roles as of yet. which i'm fine with since this team needs to grow and players need to show if they can play against NBA talent.

The guy averaged 10 shots per 36 in his career - that is FAR from being a chucker. 35% of his shots in Toronto came yesterday

He really has been decent for his entire career outside of the non-corner 3. Shoots 41% from the midrange, 66% at the rim, 43% from the corner 3, etc.

He has shot the 3 below his career averages so far in his 9 games, and he has not finished as good as he did in Utah. I am pretty sure that is gonna normalize out.

i didn't mean chucker as of a lot of shots but if he takes shots outside his comfort zone, he's most likely missing. he doesn't get many to begin with.

in general, he's not that good as a shot maker, outside of his comfort zones. midrange and non corner 3s is what he should be staying away but thats generally the opportunities he needs to take advantage of if he wants to be a good player.

[YogurtProducer]

i feel thats his problem though. completing plays and hitting shots he should be making at the NBA level. consistency on that level seems to be his problem. otherwise he's just a bad chucker as of right now.

the problem is him and the Raptors don't seem to be keeping players into boxed roles as of yet. which i'm fine with since this team needs to grow and players need to show if they can play against NBA talent.

The guy averaged 10 shots per 36 in his career - that is FAR from being a chucker. 35% of his shots in Toronto came yesterday

He really has been decent for his entire career outside of the non-corner 3. Shoots 41% from the midrange, 66% at the rim, 43% from the corner 3, etc.

He has shot the 3 below his career averages so far in his 9 games, and he has not finished as good as he did in Utah. I am pretty sure that is gonna normalize out.

i didn't mean chucker as of a lot of shots but if he takes shots outside his comfort zone, he's most likely missing. he doesn't get many to begin with.

in general, he's not that good as a shot maker, outside of his comfort zones. midrange and non corner 3s is what he should be staying away but thats generally the opportunities he needs to take advantage of if he wants to be a good player.

IMO if he sticks to defence and corner 3's he is already a good rotation piece. If he grows outside of those 2 things he has the potential to be a borderline starting caliber guy.

[mdenny]

Noone devalues a second year lottery pick more than the mystery box draft pick tankers.

I'll say it again....those draft picks are like new cars for tankers. They lose half their value as soon as you drive them off the lot.

It exposes that whole video game on gm mode mind set.....they are fixated on the rare occasion wherein a lottery pick takes the league by storm and plays well above expectations. Lottery odds aren't good. The odds of getting a player who takes the league by storm aren't good. And then the odds that said player who initially takes the league by storm has sustainable value aren't good.

But the video game simulation let's you roll those dice over and over again.

[LBJKB24MJ23]

The guy averaged 10 shots per 36 in his career - that is FAR from being a chucker. 35% of his shots in Toronto came yesterday

He really has been decent for his entire career outside of the non-corner 3. Shoots 41% from the midrange, 66% at the rim, 43% from the corner 3, etc.

He has shot the 3 below his career averages so far in his 9 games, and he has not finished as good as he did in Utah. I am pretty sure that is gonna normalize out.

i didn't mean chucker as of a lot of shots but if he takes shots outside his comfort zone, he's most likely missing. he doesn't get many to begin with.

in general, he's not that good as a shot maker, outside of his comfort zones. midrange and non corner 3s is what he should be staying away but thats generally the opportunities he needs to take advantage of if he wants to be a good player.

IMO if he sticks to defence and corner 3's he is already a good rotation piece. If he grows outside of those 2 things he has the potential to be a borderline starting caliber guy.

right now thats a big if. Utah gave up on him like he was nothing. Ainge doesn't usually give up players that have big promise. but you're right, if he sticks to corner 3s and plays high level defense, he would be serviceable.

[DreamTeam09]

Really solid player, like him a lot. Every good team has a guy like him in rotation. Defender who you can put on opposing teams guards and him still being useful enough to cut and finish and hit the open 3. Sure he hasn't had the %s you'd probably want, but he's also in his 2nd yr

[DreamTeam09]

Really solid player, like him a lot. Every good team has a guy like him in rotation. Defender who you can put on opposing teams guards and him still being useful enough to cut and finish and hit the open 3. Sure he hasn't had the %s you'd probably want, but he's also in his 2nd yr

[DreamTeam09]

Really solid player, like him a lot. Every good team has a guy like him in rotation. Defender who you can put on opposing teams guards and him still being useful enough to cut and finish and hit the open 3. Sure he hasn't had the %s you'd probably want, but he's also in his 2nd yr

[Dalek]

Really solid player, like him a lot. Every good team has a guy like him in rotation. Defender who you can put on opposing teams guards and him still being useful enough to cut and finish and hit the open 3. Sure he hasn't had the %s you'd probably want, but he's also in his 2nd yr

He's a good dude with an NBA body and wants to defend, but we might have seen this film already with Stanley Johnson, Justice Winslow, and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson. He is older than most coming into the league so the clock is ticking.

To me, it looks mental for him. He looks nervous or rushed on offense. He really needs to slow down.

[ConSarnit]

Noone devalues a second year lottery pick more than the mystery box draft pick tankers.

I'll say it again....those draft picks are like new cars for tankers. They lose half their value as soon as you drive them off the lot.

It exposes that whole video game on gm mode mind set.....they are fixated on the rare occasion wherein a lottery pick takes the league by storm and plays well above expectations. Lottery odds aren't good. The odds of getting a player who takes the league by storm aren't good. And then the odds that said player who initially takes the league by storm has sustainable value aren't good.

But the video game simulation let's you roll those dice over and over again.

Yeah, I don't get the criticism of bringing in Agbaji. He's basically our late 1st pick this year, which makes sense when you consider:

-has real NBA athleticism, can defend and his shot isn't broken

-we lost 1.5/2 years of his rookie control because unlike a draftee this year, Ochai has proven he can hang in the NBA, which removes some of the risk you take when drafting someone in the late 20's

We traded 2 cost controlled years to remove a few question marks/risk. Seems reasonable to me. And Agbagi will still be cheap for the next 2 years.

[YogurtProducer]

Really solid player, like him a lot. Every good team has a guy like him in rotation. Defender who you can put on opposing teams guards and him still being useful enough to cut and finish and hit the open 3. Sure he hasn't had the %s you'd probably want, but he's also in his 2nd yr

He's a good dude with an NBA body and wants to defend, but we might have seen this film already with Stanley Johnson, Justice Winslow, and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson. He is older than most coming into the league so the clock is ticking.

To me, it looks mental for him. He looks nervous or rushed on offense. He really needs to slow down.

Agbaji has already shown more as a shooter than any of those 3 guys.

You let him develop, but I am pretty comfortable knowing that if the above the break 3 never comes you can stick him on a contender and only let him shoot from the corners.

[Hero_Panda]

Noone devalues a second year lottery pick more than the mystery box draft pick tankers.

I'll say it again....those draft picks are like new cars for tankers. They lose half their value as soon as you drive them off the lot.

It exposes that whole video game on gm mode mind set.....they are fixated on the rare occasion wherein a lottery pick takes the league by storm and plays well above expectations. Lottery odds aren't good. The odds of getting a player who takes the league by storm aren't good. And then the odds that said player who initially takes the league by storm has sustainable value aren't good.

But the video game simulation let's you roll those dice over and over again.

Yeah, I don't get the criticism of bringing in Agbaji. He's basically our late 1st pick this year, which makes sense when you consider:

-has real NBA athleticism, can defend and his shot isn't broken

-we lost 1.5/2 years of his rookie control because unlike a draftee this year, Ochai has proven he can hang in the NBA, which removes some of the risk you take when drafting someone in the late 20's

We traded 2 cost controlled years to remove a few question marks/risk. Seems reasonable to me. And Agbagi will still be cheap for the next 2 years.

We could have used the 2024 OKC pick to draft a boat younger version of Ochai!

[ItsDanger]

Put him in a low usage role and he could be useful. He's almost 24, whatever offensive upside you think he has should be obvious on the court at least in small amounts. He hasn't shown it so far here. Nothing wrong with being a bench rotation role player. Somehow it can be an issue for players in NBA, even for coaches/management it seems.

[ConSarnit]

Noone devalues a second year lottery pick more than the mystery box draft pick tankers.

I'll say it again....those draft picks are like new cars for tankers. They lose half their value as soon as you drive them off the lot.

It exposes that whole video game on gm mode mind set.....they are fixated on the rare occasion wherein a lottery pick takes the league by storm and plays well above expectations. Lottery odds aren't good. The odds of getting a player who takes the league by storm aren't good. And then the odds that said player who initially takes the league by storm has sustainable value aren't good.

But the video game simulation let's you roll those dice over and over again.

Yeah, I don't get the criticism of bringing in Agbaji. He's basically our late 1st pick this year, which makes sense when you consider:

-has real NBA athleticism, can defend and his shot isn't broken

-we lost 1.5/2 years of his rookie control because unlike a draftee this year, Ochai has proven he can hang in the NBA, which removes some of the risk you take when drafting someone in the late 20's

We traded 2 cost controlled years to remove a few question marks/risk. Seems reasonable to me. And Agbagi will still be cheap for the next 2 years.

We could have used the 2024 OKC pick to draft a boat younger version of Ochai!

Just prepare yourself for the barrage of "we could have taken player X at 28 but we made that stupid Agbaji trade!" 4 years from now when the 42nd pick ends up being a solid role player (even though no one talked about drafting them and we could have picked them at 32 anyways).