Official Ochai Agbaji Thread - Welcome to Toronto, Ochai!

[LoveMyRaps]

Should be out of the league by next week, according to this board.

Patiently awaiting buyout news.

[YogurtProducer]

I think Masai got lucky here. Imagine Ryan Dunn was still available at the 29th...I don't think Ochai could catch up Dunn even if he hit all strides

This is ridiculous logic, even for here.

Masai is always lucky

I don't even get his post. Imagine if Dunn was available (he was not).

So where is the luck coming from..?

[YogurtProducer]

Should be out of the league by next week, according to this board.

Patiently awaiting buyout news.

Crazy. This board overreacted to his small sample size to end last year when our entire team was in disarray, and completely ignored the rest of his career.

He obv. is not gonna have a 70TS% all year but my god, reading some of the comments about how he is not gonna have his 4th year pick up or how he is going to "stunt Gradey and Jakobe's development" was insanity.

[Kingsway_fan]

Spoiler:

I think he will surprise people. A proven winner with potential to turn into an excellent 2-way role player with basketball IQ.

Watch on YouTube

Hats off to you. Good call.

[OakleyDokely]

After the first week:

27.3 MIN, 11.3 PPG, 5.3 REB, 1.3 AST, 1.7 STL, 0.3 BLK, .636 FG, .500 3PT, .600 FT, .702 TS

[Psubs]

After the first week:

27.3 MIN, 11.3 PPG, 5.3 REB, 1.3 AST, 1.7 STL, 0.3 BLK, .636 FG, .500 3PT, .600 FT, .702 TS

Amazing defense, smooth slashing and hitting the open 3's!!!

[Duffman100]

After the first week:

27.3 MIN, 11.3 PPG, 5.3 REB, 1.3 AST, 1.7 STL, 0.3 BLK, .636 FG, .500 3PT, .600 FT, .702 TS

The FG, 3P and TS are obviously going to fall. But he's still finally showing promising signs.

[Psubs]

After the first week:

27.3 MIN, 11.3 PPG, 5.3 REB, 1.3 AST, 1.7 STL, 0.3 BLK, .636 FG, .500 3PT, .600 FT, .702 TS

The FG, 3P and TS are obviously going to fall. But he's still finally showing promising signs.

Would be great if he ended up like 48/38/72.

[Raptorfan2012]

Don't know why people tried to write this guy out when he came onto the team last year; guy is only entering his 3rd year (older rookie, but thats who the Raptors like to pick up). IMO he is basically Okoro (okay role player); certainly not a scrub.

[GLF]

Should be out of the league by next week, according to this board.

Patiently awaiting buyout news.

Crazy. This board overreacted to his small sample size to end last year when our entire team was in disarray, and completely ignored the rest of his career.

He obv. is not gonna have a 70TS% all year but my god, reading some of the comments about how he is not gonna have his 4th year pick up or how he is going to "stunt Gradey and Jakobe's development" was insanity.

That’s how this board is though. They pick and choose when they want to believe small sample sizes or not based on whether they like a player or not lol. When it was RJ they didn’t believe his sample with Raptors bc it was too small, but when it’s Ochai they believe the Raptors sample even though it too was small lol. It’s pretty much what ever sample paints one of our players to be bad that’s the one people here choose to believe

[Scase]

Should be out of the league by next week, according to this board.

Patiently awaiting buyout news.

Crazy. This board overreacted to his small sample size to end last year when our entire team was in disarray, and completely ignored the rest of his career.

He obv. is not gonna have a 70TS% all year but my god, reading some of the comments about how he is not gonna have his 4th year pick up or how he is going to "stunt Gradey and Jakobe's development" was insanity.

That’s how this board is though. They pick and choose when they want to believe small sample sizes or not based on whether they like a player or not lol. When it was RJ they didn’t believe his sample with Raptors bc it was too small, but when it’s Ochai they believe the Raptors sample even though it too was small lol. It’s pretty much what ever sample paints one of our players to be bad that’s the one people here choose to believe

Ok but this is literally what is happening right now, in this thread, that you are responding to. It's a 3 game sample size lol.

Ochai is playing better than I expected and I hope he keeps it up, but much like RJ there's plenty of evidence prior showing this is not what is to be expected. Let's see these guys do it for a whole season before we start crowning him fixed.

I have been enjoying seeing him in transition, he's looked great there, needs a lot of work in the HC though.

[OakleyDokely]

Ochai shot high 30s, low 40s from 3 in college and mid 30s from 3 in Utah. It would be great if he can get to the college level, but as long as he's in that Utah range, he's solid enough in other areas to be a rotation player on a good team. The only time he's really shot the 3 badly was in his limited time with TOR at the end of last year.

[TDots97]

Ochai shot high 30s, low 40s from 3 in college and mid 30s from 3 in Utah. It would be great if he can get to the college level, but as long as he's in that Utah range, he's a solid enough in other areas to be a rotation player on a good team. The only time he's really shot the 3 badly is his limited time with TOR at the end of last year.

Yeah, I could work with being 34-35% on 3-4 attempts a game.

[XTC]

One thing about Ochai is, I've never really had a problem with any of the shots he has taken since last year, he just bricks them. It really did seem like he was trying too hard to play that 3+D role last season. The tools, athleticism, and IQ are all there.

Ochai this season is letting the game come to him. He's making smart cuts and making use of his length and athleticism, and he's only taking 3's he's comfortable with. Ochai is a career 42% three point shooter from the corner, this is something he can fall back on. While 42% corner shooting isn't elite, if he can make that shot consistently it opens up his game in so many ways.

As for my expectations for this season, if he can come in and give 8-10 points, solid defense, with a TS% that hovers around league average. That's a W in my eyes.

[YogurtProducer]

Crazy. This board overreacted to his small sample size to end last year when our entire team was in disarray, and completely ignored the rest of his career.

He obv. is not gonna have a 70TS% all year but my god, reading some of the comments about how he is not gonna have his 4th year pick up or how he is going to "stunt Gradey and Jakobe's development" was insanity.

That’s how this board is though. They pick and choose when they want to believe small sample sizes or not based on whether they like a player or not lol. When it was RJ they didn’t believe his sample with Raptors bc it was too small, but when it’s Ochai they believe the Raptors sample even though it too was small lol. It’s pretty much what ever sample paints one of our players to be bad that’s the one people here choose to believe

Ok but this is literally what is happening right now, in this thread, that you are responding to. It's a 3 game sample size lol.

Ochai is playing better than I expected and I hope he keeps it up, but much like RJ there's plenty of evidence prior showing this is not what is to be expected. Let's see these guys do it for a whole season before we start crowning him fixed.

I have been enjoying seeing him in transition, he's looked great there, needs a lot of work in the HC though.

Nope, that is not literally what is happening right now.

There was literally a 110 game sample in Utah where he was 35% shooter and literally a 27 game sample size here where he was a 24% shooter. Guess which one you and others decided to cling onto?

There also are literally posts from guys that express that it is obvious the efficiency will drop, such as this one that you literally ignored.

After the first week:

27.3 MIN, 11.3 PPG, 5.3 REB, 1.3 AST, 1.7 STL, 0.3 BLK, .636 FG, .500 3PT, .600 FT, .702 TS

The FG, 3P and TS are obviously going to fall. But he's still finally showing promising signs.

Would be great if he ended up like 48/38/72.

Do I need to go find a certain thread in which you made an entire thread crowing a certain former Raptor as the "historically worst shooter of all time" based on like a 20 game sample?

[GLF]

Crazy. This board overreacted to his small sample size to end last year when our entire team was in disarray, and completely ignored the rest of his career.

He obv. is not gonna have a 70TS% all year but my god, reading some of the comments about how he is not gonna have his 4th year pick up or how he is going to "stunt Gradey and Jakobe's development" was insanity.

That’s how this board is though. They pick and choose when they want to believe small sample sizes or not based on whether they like a player or not lol. When it was RJ they didn’t believe his sample with Raptors bc it was too small, but when it’s Ochai they believe the Raptors sample even though it too was small lol. It’s pretty much what ever sample paints one of our players to be bad that’s the one people here choose to believe

Ok but this is literally what is happening right now, in this thread, that you are responding to. It's a 3 game sample size lol.

Ochai is playing better than I expected and I hope he keeps it up, but much like RJ there's plenty of evidence prior showing this is not what is to be expected. Let's see these guys do it for a whole season before we start crowning him fixed.

I have been enjoying seeing him in transition, he's looked great there, needs a lot of work in the HC though.

I actually think most people here understand it’s a small sample size and there are people who have even stated the numbers will 100% go down and he won’t stay at 70% true shooting. But you can see tangible improvement in his finishing and driving. Maybe I missed something, but most people are generally being level headed about the improvement we’ve seen so far. All we are saying is we didn’t write him off after the small sample size with Raptors where he mostly played alongside G leaguers to end the season. And his history in terms of stats wasn’t great, but it definitely wasn’t as bad as it was with Raptors. But yes we can agree on the fact that it’s nice to see him playing well and we both hope it continues.

[GLF]

One thing about Ochai is, I've never really had a problem with any of the shots he has taken since last year, he just bricks them. It really did seem like he was trying too hard to play that 3+D role last season. The tools, athleticism, and IQ are all there.

Ochai this season is letting the game come to him. He's making smart cuts and making use of his length and athleticism, and he's only taking 3's he's comfortable with. Ochai is a career 42% three point shooter from the corner, this is something he can fall back on. While 42% corner shooting isn't elite, if he can make that shot consistently it opens up his game in so many ways.

As for my expectations, if he can come in and give 8-10 points, solid defense, with a TS% that hovers around league average. That's a W in my eyes.

And with Gradey’s improvement from the above the break 3 and IQ who is great at that shot, they will no longer have to park Gradey in the corner and they can now park Ochai there. Same with RJ. Both of them are much better from the corners. If they can be parked there and not get trapped into taking many above the break 3s or wing 3s, I believe they can keep their 3 point average to at least league average. And if they can do that and continue their great finishing in the paint, that’s an NBA rotation player. That’s a good role player. Not someone who will be out of the league in a year or two

[ConSarnit]

Should be out of the league by next week, according to this board.

Patiently awaiting buyout news.

Crazy. This board overreacted to his small sample size to end last year when our entire team was in disarray, and completely ignored the rest of his career.

He obv. is not gonna have a 70TS% all year but my god, reading some of the comments about how he is not gonna have his 4th year pick up or how he is going to "stunt Gradey and Jakobe's development" was insanity.

That’s how this board is though. They pick and choose when they want to believe small sample sizes or not based on whether they like a player or not lol. When it was RJ they didn’t believe his sample with Raptors bc it was too small, but when it’s Ochai they believe the Raptors sample even though it too was small lol. It’s pretty much what ever sample paints one of our players to be bad that’s the one people here choose to believe

I want to remain optimistic but it's crazy how we do this every year. Last year at this time Dick was bust. Haven't heard much about that this year. All of a sudden Ochai and Shead having solved their shooting woes even though they've taken 6 and 8 TOTAL 3pa on the season. Hopefully they can keep it up but man these sample sizes are miniscule.

[GLF]

Crazy. This board overreacted to his small sample size to end last year when our entire team was in disarray, and completely ignored the rest of his career.

He obv. is not gonna have a 70TS% all year but my god, reading some of the comments about how he is not gonna have his 4th year pick up or how he is going to "stunt Gradey and Jakobe's development" was insanity.

That’s how this board is though. They pick and choose when they want to believe small sample sizes or not based on whether they like a player or not lol. When it was RJ they didn’t believe his sample with Raptors bc it was too small, but when it’s Ochai they believe the Raptors sample even though it too was small lol. It’s pretty much what ever sample paints one of our players to be bad that’s the one people here choose to believe

I want to remain optimistic but it's crazy how we do this every year. Last year at this time Dick was bust. Haven't heard much about that this year. All of a sudden Ochai and Shead having solved their shooting woes even though they've taken 6 and 8 TOTAL 3pa on the season. Hopefully they can keep it up but man these sample sizes are miniscule.

People on this board definitely live in extremes and speak in absolutes based on what they’re seeing at the moment and that’s both on the positive end and negative end. I agree with that. But I haven’t seen anyone say Ochai is gonna continue to have a 70% true shooting for the season based on 3 games. I think most people praising him understand that won’t continue. But he’s showing that even when that shot doesn’t fall he can affect the game in a positive way. It’s not just the shot. He has looked good since preseason and his shot only really fell last game. That was just the icing on top. He’s cutting extremely well and finishing much better. He’s also driving more and showing more comfort in his handle and playing the usual good defence he always plays. Those things can stick around (efficiency will most likely drop a bit bc he’s barely missed an layup this season yet) even if the shooting comes and goes.

[pingpongrac]

Crazy. This board overreacted to his small sample size to end last year when our entire team was in disarray, and completely ignored the rest of his career.

He obv. is not gonna have a 70TS% all year but my god, reading some of the comments about how he is not gonna have his 4th year pick up or how he is going to "stunt Gradey and Jakobe's development" was insanity.

That’s how this board is though. They pick and choose when they want to believe small sample sizes or not based on whether they like a player or not lol. When it was RJ they didn’t believe his sample with Raptors bc it was too small, but when it’s Ochai they believe the Raptors sample even though it too was small lol. It’s pretty much what ever sample paints one of our players to be bad that’s the one people here choose to believe

Ok but this is literally what is happening right now, in this thread, that you are responding to. It's a 3 game sample size lol.

Ochai is playing better than I expected and I hope he keeps it up, but much like RJ there's plenty of evidence prior showing this is not what is to be expected. Let's see these guys do it for a whole season before we start crowning him fixed.

I have been enjoying seeing him in transition, he's looked great there, needs a lot of work in the HC though.

It's not though. Agbaji hit nearly 40% of his threes in his last two college seasons (on 6.2 attempts per game to boot) then shot the three at a ~36% rate in his first NBA season while he was touted as a good defender. He continued to hit threes at a solid rate through the first few months last season (40/108 or 37% up to December 31st) before he fell off a cliff the rest of the season (22/103 or 21% in 2024). Aside from a four-month stretch where the majority of those attempts and minutes on the court came with him playing a role he wasn't suitable for, he had been a pretty solid three-point shooter for 3+ years. His three-point shooting was trending up every year in college (~3% increase year over year) and he carried that over into his first ~100 NBA games where he hit ~36% on respectable volume (~6 attempts per36).

He's not an elite or even great shooter by any means, but he's a pretty good fit with our starters (Scottie, IQ, RJ and Poeltl) and it shouldn't come as a big surprise if he ends up starting games over Gradey when we're healthy. You might not agree with it (and I'm on the fence about the possibility because Gradey has a much higher ceiling offensively), but there are going to be a lot of minutes and opportunities for both of them regardless.