Official Ochai Agbaji Thread - Welcome to Toronto, Ochai!

[Scase]

He's starting to take & make 3 pointers that aren't isolated in the corner.

I loved his defensive tenacity last night as well. He's been such a joy to watch and he continues to make strides every game.

66% TS - shooting 57% from the field and 42% from deep. Also averaging 1.3spg in 30mpg this season.

Read on Twitter

Do you think he'll be a good MLE bench player on a championship team or someone to package to consolidate assets?

Battle may be decent enough on minimum contracts or under $5 million per season. Or Battle is the player in the package.

I dont think Battle will have enough value to be worth it, and Ochais defence being lost would be pretty brutal for a team already in the dumpster.

Unless for some reason we bring back a better 3+D player, I don't see what we can pull back from him being traded. He'd be great as a sweetener for a big trade, but we are not in the place for a big trade.

[ConSarnit]

He's starting to take & make 3 pointers that aren't isolated in the corner.

I loved his defensive tenacity last night as well. He's been such a joy to watch and he continues to make strides every game.

66% TS - shooting 57% from the field and 42% from deep. Also averaging 1.3spg in 30mpg this season.

Read on Twitter

He is? He's taking 1.7 ATB 3's per game and hitting them at 20%. That 1.7 number is right in line with his career ATB attempts (1.4 in 2024, 2.2 in 2023).

That said, he doesn't even have to be "good" from ATB for this trade to still be a win. If he's a solid 8th man that is a good outcome for the 25th pick.

[Chandan]

Bruce Brown and ochai are essentially the same mold of player, that's more and more apparent as Ochai finds his footing.

[MEDIC]

Bruce Brown and ochai are essentially the same mold of player, that's more and more apparent as Ochai finds his footing.

Good point. Except Ochai is a younger, longer, more athletic version that can also hit his 3's. I'd say that's an adequate replacement.

Do we really want BB taking away any of his minutes?

Hopefully we find a team desperate to shed salary or a team desperate for guard depth.

[pingpongrac]

Never understood the hate Agbaji was getting last season. It seemed pretty obvious that he wasn't in a good position to succeed shortly after we acquired him as half of our rotation went down with injuries, but we had ~5 college + NBA seasons of him been a good defender that can score decently if he's not tasked at creating his own offence. Always seemed like a good fit on our current roster – almost like an OG-esque player – that can eventually contribute to winning and is especially valuable as the 5th option that defends well and primarily scores off of corner threes and timely cuts.

[ForeverTFC]

Never understood the hate Agbaji was getting last season. It seemed pretty obvious that he wasn't in a good position to succeed shortly after we acquired him as half of our rotation went down with injuries, but we had ~5 college + NBA seasons of him been a good defender that can score decently if he's not tasked at creating his own offence. Always seemed like a good fit on our current roster – almost like an OG-esque player – that can eventually contribute to winning and is especially valuable as the 5th option that defends well and primarily scores off of corner threes and timely cuts.

Never under-estimate the allure of a pick, however **** it might be.

[bluerap23]

Bruce Brown and ochai are essentially the same mold of player, that's more and more apparent as Ochai finds his footing.

Good point. Except Ochai is a younger, longer, more athletic version that can also hit his 3's. I'd say that's an adequate replacement.

Do we really want BB taking away any of his minutes?

Hopefully we find a team desperate to shed salary or a team desperate for guard depth.

They are very different players offensively

[pingpongrac]

Never understood the hate Agbaji was getting last season. It seemed pretty obvious that he wasn't in a good position to succeed shortly after we acquired him as half of our rotation went down with injuries, but we had ~5 college + NBA seasons of him been a good defender that can score decently if he's not tasked at creating his own offence. Always seemed like a good fit on our current roster – almost like an OG-esque player – that can eventually contribute to winning and is especially valuable as the 5th option that defends well and primarily scores off of corner threes and timely cuts.

Never under-estimate the allure of a pick, however **** it might be.

True. Some people prefer the ~10% chance that a late 20s pick could pan out to be anything more than a bench player rather than the guarantee of one solid role player (Olynyk) with the added possibility of a young player being more than a bench player (Agbaji).

[MEDIC]

Bruce Brown and ochai are essentially the same mold of player, that's more and more apparent as Ochai finds his footing.

Good point. Except Ochai is a younger, longer, more athletic version that can also hit his 3's. I'd say that's an adequate replacement.

Do we really want BB taking away any of his minutes?

Hopefully we find a team desperate to shed salary or a team desperate for guard depth.

They are very different players offensively

Production-wise on both ends they are similar.

I don't really care how they score their points. It's more so, can Ochai replace Brown's production on both ends. Se far, then answer is yes.

[LoveMyRaps]

Masai found an OG replacement so fast. Masterful!

Ochai seems to be a lot more durable as well.

[LoveMyRaps]

Will this guy be in the league in 2025?

Be honest

Not an NBA caliber player but great for tanking

2 more months till Ochai is out of the league.

[Scott Hall]

Will this guy be in the league in 2025?

Be honest

Not an NBA caliber player but great for tanking

2 more months till Ochai is out of the league.

Shocking turnaround don't think anyone expected this... I remember Jack calling him out last year
and didn't he have an awful summer league? his progress has been stunning he's becoming one of my
favorite players.

[Harcore Fenton Mun]

He's played great so far. But, if he's playing 30 plus minutes a night, you're probably the second worst team in the league.

[C_Money]

Will this guy be in the league in 2025?

Be honest

Not an NBA caliber player but great for tanking

2 more months till Ochai is out of the league.

Captain Hindsight over here

[Raps in 4]

He's played great so far. But, if he's playing 30 plus minutes a night, you're probably the second worst team in the league.

Because your team is riddled with injuries.

[bonjovi0308]

The million dollar burning question is can Ochai's game translate to playoffs?

[raptorforlife88]

The million dollar burning question is can Ochai's game translate to playoffs?

?

No it's not. He's just a role player who's primarily going to play off of stars, hit threes when open, and play solid defense.

If he plays like he has he can plug in as a 3+d anywhere.

The question of can someone's take translate to the playoffs is for your two or three best players because that's who will get keyed in on.

Like in the 2010s that question was for DeRozan and Lowry, not like Norm. And the answer for DeRozan was no it does not.

[Duffman100]

Like the Gradey Dick thread people just need a bit of patience.

I'll fully admit my expectations for Ochai had fallen to nothing. I was blasting him.

But the logic of the trade makes sense and it's good to see it starting seeing value

[TimeForChange]

Star

Would easily fetch a first rounder this year but I don’t think he’s going anywhere

[TimeForChange]

How do you not start this guy when Scottie is back?