Official Ochai Agbaji Thread - Welcome to Toronto, Ochai!

[OakleyDokely]

Went from OG to the discount version OA

[LoveMyRaps]

From the Jazz forum (there comments were made in the last 2 weeks):

I like Ochai and agree that his defense is his current calling card. He came into the league saying that he would focus and improve on his defense (Kind of like DM said when he first arrived), but unlike Mitchell, Ochai has focused and improved there while in a Jazz Uniform. He still has room for improvement, but his athleticism is fun to watch. Also, I love his demeanor. He arrived with all kinds of accolades which could have gone to his head, but rather, he has been low key and focussed. Every off season players are expected to work on improving an aspect of their game. I believe the coaching staff believe in Ochai and he will begin to use his athleticism and improve his offensive game.
.

I like Ochai. He is a deffensive minded player, and he has impact. I Guess if he shot so many times as George he would have better numbers.
Your roster have to have this kind of players. Clarkson is better, but your team is more balanced with one Clarkson and one Ochai than with 2 Clarkson.
This team is doing fine with Fontecchio starting and Ochai as reserve. They fight, they defend, but it's true Simone is more offensive talented.

Ochai Agbaji: His defense is really good. Offensively there isn't much to talk about, but that could work to his advantage if he focuses on one thing to improve. All he has to do is work on his shot. If he can make 3s at a good percentage, he'd be a nice player to have on the roster. It's up to him.

[Fairview4Life]

We're gonna hear "Ochai, OH MY" a whole lot, aren't we.

JACK: GETTTTT DA-AGBAJIIII OUTTA HEREEE

This is good.

[alpngso]

From 2022 Draft

Vecenie

Agbaji is a fascinating prospect, one who genuinely took a great leap this year by getting great at his best skills. He has a case as the best shooter off the catch in this draft. His numbers are terrific out of spot-ups, he has NBA range, and all the indicators
in terms of his shooting from 3 are strong when he’s set. But how often will he get a chance to do that in the NBA? Agbaji’s
long-term ceiling all comes down to him being able to add something inside the 3-point line. He has to be able to counter heavy
closeouts with the ball; otherwise, the rest of his game falls apart a bit on offense. Whether it’s as a passer, as a finisher or as a relocation pull-up shooter, Agbaji needs to be able to make something happen. The good news? The combination of 3-point
spacing off the catch and his quite-good on-ball defense at least gives him a reasonable floor of being a reliable rotational wing.
But he needs to grow to exceed that and be a starter.

Hollinger

Agbaji can shoot, hitting 40.7 percent of his 3s in 2021-22 on high volume, but don’t get carried away: He’s also a 71.4 percent career foul shooter. As a creator off the dribble, I don’t see much, although he was able to get to pull-ups fairly effectively.

On defense, it’s a similar story. He’s not impactfully as far as getting hands on balls or flying out at shooters on shot contests, and he’s not capable of true ball pressure. However, he’s a good feet-slider who works hard to keep dribblers in front of him and plays angles and scouting reports; it was notable in the tape that he’d crowd some players much tighter than others based on their ability.

Overall, he’s a classic “won’t kill us” guy. But I’m not sure there’s much upside either.

[bboyskinnylegs]

one thing I like about him is he looks like he can be an effective, athletic finisher from some of those nice passes Scottie delivers

[DelAbbot]

His name reminds me of

[Appostis]

It's worth a shot as the teams future SF or 3-D off the bench.
On a rookie scale contract..worth the late pick.

[ruckus]

We're gonna hear "Ochai, OH MY" a whole lot, aren't we.

Hopefully Matt comes up with a new catchphrase. How about "Agbaji THAT for a dollar!"?

[Jim Todd Jr.]

Should be a solid rotation piece.

Just makes me wonder what we’re doing with Brown when it was thought we’d likely target Grimes which now likely won’t be the case.

brown will be super valuable this offseason

[Jim Todd Jr.]

ochai lookin like a swing at an og replacement

[LoveMyRaps]

Should be a solid rotation piece.

Just makes me wonder what we’re doing with Brown when it was thought we’d likely target Grimes which now likely won’t be the case.

brown will be super valuable this offseason

Not saying you’re wrong, but would like to know how he’ll be more valuable in the summer than prior to this deadline.
See a lot of folks saying this but I can’t seem to wrap my head around it.

[aminiaturebuddha]

Should be a solid rotation piece.

Just makes me wonder what we’re doing with Brown when it was thought we’d likely target Grimes which now likely won’t be the case.

brown will be super valuable this offseason

Not saying you’re wrong, but would like to know how he’ll be more valuable in the summer than prior to this deadline.
See a lot of folks saying this but I can’t seem to wrap my head around it.

I'm not sure if "more valuable" is the right term, if that's what people are saying. However, it's possible that the team will have more suitors for Brown in the summer, when matching salary for trades isn't as difficult when teams have cap room before filling out their rosters.

[Appostis]

ochai lookin like a swing at an og replacement

*Gulp* let's hope we don't have a repeat of decades of looking for a 3&D wing like we saw before OG

[_MidNight_]

Am I the only one who really really like this kid and think he could turn into our sg of the future?
I'm open to being wrong but I'm gonna die on that hill.

[Bruin]

You can see some nice flashes of what he can be. I’d rather take a shot at developing Ochai into something similar to Norm than pay Gary.

I hope we can see Ochai eventually earn the starting spot with IQ, RJ, Scottie and Poeltl

Watch on YouTube

[MiamiSPX]

That corner 3 is legit.

[SirKen]

I really like his fit next to IQ/RJ/Scottie/Poeltl(or Porter). I think he will be fine as a 3+D glue guy.

Now, considering he has great work ethic, could Darko unlock some Desmond Bane like potential?

[OakleyDokely]

As a starter:

23/24: 10 GAMES, 27.3 MIN, 7.7 PPG, 3.8 REB, 0.9 AST, 0.9 BLK, 1.3 STL, 48.3 FG, 45.5 3PT, 1.00 FT
22/23: 22 GAMES, 29.9 MIN, 13.4 PPG, 2.5 REB, 2.1 AST, 0.5 BLK, 0.5 STL, 40.5 FG, 33.3 3PT, 87.2 FT

[Tripod]

Having him run around on defense so Barnesounds others don't have to, is a good thing.

Gives better balance as long as he can hit his 3's.

Brown, GTJ, Dick, Nwora, Boucher, Olynyk....pretty good bench shooting too. Or at least when 1 guy us having a bad shooting night, you have other options to try finally.

[F22_Raptor]

Watch on YouTube

Fun to watch these Yung Hibachi hilites.

We got ourselves a stud. Possibly a right handed version of RJ?