Ochai Agbaji Decision

[DreamTeam09]

His option is already picked up, no need to sign him this summer, he's still an RFA next year.

he is extension eligible. idea is if you intend to keep him long term signing him now may offer bit of a discount vs being in RFA when there are more teams w/ capspace in 2026 offseason

RFA's like Ochai don't get offer sheet. You let him play out the year and decide if he's worth the continued investment. You guys are talking about 14-15 MLE money when he maybe closer to BAE money

[Godaddycurse]

His option is already picked up, no need to sign him this summer, he's still an RFA next year.

he is extension eligible. idea is if you intend to keep him long term signing him now may offer bit of a discount vs being in RFA when there are more teams w/ capspace in 2026 offseason

RFA's like Ochai don't get offer sheet. You let him play out the year and decide if he's worth the continued investment. You guys are talking about 14-15 MLE money when he maybe closer to BAE money

another year of 50/40 shooting w/ solid defense will earn him far more than BAE money

[ForeverTFC]

Too early. We haven’t seen this team play at full strength for almost 2 seasons. This is a thread for the deadline.

[GLF]

His option is already picked up, no need to sign him this summer, he's still an RFA next year.

he is extension eligible. idea is if you intend to keep him long term signing him now may offer bit of a discount vs being in RFA when there are more teams w/ capspace in 2026 offseason

RFA's like Ochai don't get offer sheet. You let him play out the year and decide if he's worth the continued investment. You guys are talking about 14-15 MLE money when he maybe closer to BAE money

Exactly. Also we are seeing teams don’t have money to be throwing at players like that in the offseason anymore. Look at what happened to Gary Trent. Trust no one is going to be throwing crazy money at Ochai, even if he plays well next season again.

[Godaddycurse]

he is extension eligible. idea is if you intend to keep him long term signing him now may offer bit of a discount vs being in RFA when there are more teams w/ capspace in 2026 offseason

RFA's like Ochai don't get offer sheet. You let him play out the year and decide if he's worth the continued investment. You guys are talking about 14-15 MLE money when he maybe closer to BAE money

Exactly. Also we are seeing teams don’t have money to be throwing at players like that in the offseason anymore. Look at what happened to Gary Trent. Trust no one is going to be throwing crazy money at Ochai, even if he plays well next season again.

there is lots of capspace available in 2026. look at what happened to KCP

[RaptorLakerJay]

Agbaji in my opinion is a championship role player. Masai talked about how Jakob is a championship centre. Same goes with Ochai.

[YogurtProducer]

He’s not that good. We also can’t afford his next contract.

Why cant we afford it?

[YogurtProducer]

His option is already picked up, no need to sign him this summer, he's still an RFA next year.

he is extension eligible. idea is if you intend to keep him long term signing him now may offer bit of a discount vs being in RFA when there are more teams w/ capspace in 2026 offseason

RFA's like Ochai don't get offer sheet. You let him play out the year and decide if he's worth the continued investment. You guys are talking about 14-15 MLE money when he maybe closer to BAE money

Or you sign him now for say 4/50 or 4/60 rather than risk he has a breakout year and ends up getting 4/80 or 4/100

[Godaddycurse]

He’s not that good. We also can’t afford his next contract.

Why cant we afford it?

Not if we are keeping the starting lineup intact

[C_Money]

He’s not that good. We also can’t afford his next contract.

Why cant we afford it?

Not if we are keeping the starting lineup intact

This. He’s not better than anybody in the starting 5 so he’s out. Somebody desperate will pay him more to be their starter.

[junot111]

The most important factor is whether he can sustain his 40% 3pt shooting... If he did, locking him up to 3/40 would be a steal. He could play an Aaron Nesmith role on a playoff team and that contract would be very easy to move. But there is a risk that his shooting falls off a cliff

[Zeno]

The most important factor is whether he can sustain his 40% 3pt shooting... If he did, locking him up to 3/40 would be a steal. He could play an Aaron Nesmith role on a playoff team and that contract would be very easy to move. But there is a risk that his shooting falls off a cliff

The risk of his shooting falling off is the only reason you’d ever be able to get him on an MLE type deal. I think you sign him to that kind of deal immediately and for as me much as 4/60.

[Rapsalot]

First thanks for the start of the post as I had it in the trades and FA post but traffic on the topic light.
First I like all our players. Some I think we overpaid. Players may find signing for too much not be good for stable career soon. Example IQ is a very good player but signed above his value and is now a target for teams to move off.
Ochai had a good to very good year but not a starting quality year. We need to find a team that could use depth. We need more at other positions because of our draft and trade patterns last 2 years.
Could we trade him for late first this year or even next year?
What are folks ideas?

[Rapsalot]

Too early. We haven’t seen this team play at full strength for almost 2 seasons. This is a thread for the deadline.

If the draft falls perfectly you could be correct but let’s say we don’t trade back and no real good C is left so team talks BPA and now you have less mpg for Ochai who is already behind GD and J’KW? How could we trade him for back up C or late first where we pick back up C?

[Mark_83]

One of Ochai, RJ, Walter, or Dick have to go. They're all best used as shooting guards and there's only so many minutes available.

If Ochai can get you a 1st in the teens this year, that's a win.

[Brinbe]

Athletic 3+D roleplayers are the exact type that you hold on to.

I think they'll see if he can replicate his shooting numbers though before fully committing, which is the smart thing to do.

[CPT]

Would extend him on a favorable (and thus, tradable) contract. Don’t know what that looks like though. 4/40? 3/45?

[vado]

I think you see how he and the team plays and evaluate close to the trade deadline. We don’t know how this team looks with BI yet

[ForeverTFC]

Too early. We haven’t seen this team play at full strength for almost 2 seasons. This is a thread for the deadline.

If the draft falls perfectly you could be correct but let’s say we don’t trade back and no real good C is left so team talks BPA and now you have less mpg for Ochai who is already behind GD and J’KW? How could we trade him for back up C or late first where we pick back up C?

Do we know they’re ahead of him? And even if they are, what if we end up using them in a deal?

If someone is giving us a big offer for him in the summer, that’s one thing. But to actively shop him before the deadline doesn’t make sense. Whether we keep or trade him might not have anything to do with the current depth chart or him specifically by the deadline. And we have no reason to rush.

[ontnut]

If there's concern about the cap crunch, Ochai is the classic player type to attach to a higher salaried player in a consolidation trade. He has value right now, and if he were to sign at ~$15m, he'd still have value.

This upcoming year is the evaluation year where we try and figure out who among our young guards are keepers, and who are trade bait.