Raptors’ faith in late-bloomer Ochai Agbaji a testament to determination, ethic

On Nov 7, 2024

LOS ANGELES — A profitable rebuild wants expertise from many sources.

The draft is the plain one, and sometimes the foundational one. The 2019 Toronto Raptors successful a championship with out a lottery choose was an NBA first, and there are lengthy odds of it occurring once more. The higher reaches of the draft are the place probably the most expertise could be acquired on the lowest value, and the place — if all goes properly — a crew can land a future star, and stars win titles.

The Raptors have declared Scottie Barnes — the fourth-overall choose in 2021 — as their cornerstone as a result of they imagine the 2023 All-Star could be an all-NBA stage participant, which is to say a top-10 or top-15 sort of performer.

However groups hardly ever draft their means by means of their issues. The Detroit Pistons have picked in the highest seven of the NBA draft for 5 straight years and don’t but appear any nearer to transitioning from rebuild hell to aggressive competence any time quickly, simply to choose an instance.

As a substitute, even whereas hoping all these losses — the Raptors arrive in Los Angeles for a back-to-back weekend set with the Clippers and the Lakers and sport a 2-7 report to date — add up to lottery wins sooner or later, it’s essential to use different means to discover gamers that may be a part of a long-term resolution when the younger stars are prepared to contribute to successful in the NBA.

All of which brings us to Ochai Agbaji, the six-foot-five third-year wing they acquired by commerce final February who has thrust himself into the dialog as being a long-term rotation participant, with all of the caveats in regards to the season not even being a month outdated but.

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“He’s been really good for us on defence. I’d say that’s his biggest strength, his activity there, his versatility there,” mentioned Raptors veteran Jakob Poeltl. “He’s filling a kind of little-bit-of-everything role on offence for us, where he’s doing a lot of good cutting, spacing the corners for threes and stuff like that. Being aggressive in the fast break. So, yeah, we need more of that.”

Any crew does. It’s simply taken Agbaji a while to point out he’s able to offering it. The Raptors favored him popping out of school however didn’t have a first-round choose in 2022, having flipped picks with the San Antonio Spurs in the Thaddeus Younger commerce on the deadline in 2021-22 (the Spurs took Malaki Branham at 20 with Toronto’s choose, whereas the Raptors took Christian Koloko at 33).

Agbaji was taken 14^th general in 2022 by Cleveland, then was included in the deal that introduced Donovan Mitchell to the Cavs and despatched Lauri Markkanen to Utah later that summer time. After a first rate rookie season, the Jazz appeared to lose faith in a participant they didn’t draft in the primary place, and traded Agbaji to Toronto halfway by means of his second yr; the Jazz deciding they’d reasonably take their probabilities on whoever they may seize with the Twenty ninth-overall choose they received from Toronto in the deal (USC guard Isaiah Collier, it turned out) than wait on Agbaji to attain no matter potential they projected for him.

The Raptors — who had the primary choose of the second spherical (and used it on Jonathan Mogbo) — had been positive with shifting off the late first-round choose they’d acquired from Indiana in the Pascal Siakam commerce to take a swing on Agbaji.

It was a low-risk transfer with upside, because the Raptors would have the tip of final season and a full low season to see if Agbaji might be match earlier than having to make any choices relating to his contract. If it really works, the Raptors have discovered themselves a rotation participant for unfastened change, mainly, the type of transfer that helps construct a functioning crew across the stars you hope to get on the high of the draft.

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Up to now in the early days of the Raptors’ official rebuild, the plain win has been Gradey Dick, the second-year ahead taken thirteenth in 2023 who’s seemingly blossoming into some of the efficient second-year gamers in the league. Nailing a mid-to-late lottery choose is one other rebuild dwelling run, and with Dick, it seems just like the Raptors have at the very least hit a line-drive double.

However nearly as essential in its personal means has been the beginning that Agbaji, Dick’s exercise associate this previous summer time in Kansas, has put collectively. The Utah afterthought is exhibiting indicators of changing into a redraft steal, the NBA equal of discovering an unused reward card in the pocket of an outdated coat.

Though it’s not even 10 video games into the season, it’s onerous to think about the Raptors being something however thrilled with Agbaji’s exhibiting, each as a starter or coming off the bench. He’s been slotted because the crew’s main wing stopper defensively, and has tailored into a kind of Swiss Military knife function offensively, utilizing his pace, athleticism and vitality to both distract defences along with his slicing and common movement, or reap the benefits of them once they lose observe of him alongside the way in which.

The 24-year-old is averaging 13.0 factors, 4.4 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.3 steals in half-hour of ground time and doing it with exceptional effectivity, changing 56.8 per cent from the ground, together with 42.4 per cent from three.

And he’s doing it with the lightest of touches: Agbaji ranks third on the Raptors in whole minutes performed and fifth in minutes per recreation, however his 14.2 per cent utilization fee is 13^th on a 15-man roster.

It’s the profile of the right complementary participant: somebody who’s prepared defensively and environment friendly offensively with out taking too many touches away from the crew’s main weapons.

Not everybody who was the Most Excellent Participant on the Ultimate 4 on a nationwide championship crew, a first-team All-American and the Large 12 convention’s main scorer as a senior would purchase into that type of function, or adapt to it so rapidly, however Agbaji appears all in.

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“That’s kind of the way I play basketball,” mentioned Agbaji. “I always feel like, with basketball, good things will come if you focus on the right things, if you play the right way, if you are really in tune with your team and playing that style of basketball, then everything will work out for you individually in the end. You really don’t worry about it. I mean, I’ve won a national championship, and that’s what that whole entire year taught me.”

The emotions are great, however manufacturing issues too, and this model of Agbaji is a bit surprising.

For comparability, in Summer season League in July, Agbaji averaged solely 6.0 factors on 35.7 per cent capturing (and 14.3 per cent from three), which may solely be described as discouraging outcomes for a four-year faculty senior with two years of NBA expertise underneath his belt.

In his 27 video games with the Raptors final yr after he was acquired from Utah together with Kelly Olynyk on the commerce deadline, Agbaji averaged simply 6.7 factors a recreation whereas capturing 39.1 per cent from the ground and 21.7 from deep, despite the fact that he averaged a wholesome 24 minutes a recreation and received 18 begins down the stretch. That the rebuilding Jazz didn’t see Agbaji as a part of their future was a query mark too.

However the different aspect of the argument was that Agbaji had shot the ball properly at Kansas — he linked on 40.7 per cent of his threes as a senior on first rate quantity — and shot an encouraging 35.5 per cent from deep as a rookie with the Jazz.

The Raptors believed that, at worst, Agbaji might be a league-average shooter, which could enable his different attributes to shine. Up to now this season, their faith has been greater than justified.

There are theories for Agbaji’s mini breakout. Essentially the most fundamental is that he’s put in a super quantity of labor. As well as to the low season mini-camps the Raptors held in Las Vegas, Spain, Miami and Toronto, Agbaji skilled for weeks at a time in Kansas alongside Dick, a fellow KU alum, and most of it underneath the watchful eye of Raptors assistant coach Ivo Simovic, whose consideration to element has helped Dick develop of the previous 18 months.

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“We pushed each other every single day,” mentioned Dick, who famously inherited Agbaji’s dorm room at Kansas. “We did different shooting workouts, competitions and one-on-one at the end. So, I feel like being in the (same) area and just going hard every single day, and pushing each other and still, you know, giving each other advice has been really good for both of us.”

It’s the type of dedication that earns the belief of a corporation and a head coach. Agbaji’s willingness to do the additional work is all a part of the long-term analysis of a participant and the way seemingly the crew is prepared to wager on him reaching his potential.

“First of all, he’s a really, really hard worker. I give him credit for that,” mentioned Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic. “Like there was not one time in the observe or his exercises that you just want to inform that man to go tougher. He’s very coachable. We talked a lot. I’ve been actually targeted on what he wants to do for the crew each night time, and that’s being a actually good on-the-ball defender, rebounding, enhancing his agility on the defensive finish, having the ability to keep away from screens, all of these particulars.

“Offensively, to do a really good job of cutting and moving and creating space and scoring in those opportunities. And he’s constantly working on his shooting as well. We’re seeing progress with that. So, everything that we put in front of him, he did a really good job of embracing it and taking it to another level.”

All of which speaks to the opposite concept amongst league circles relating to Agbaji’s potential as a breakout candidate. A number of scouts I spoke with speculated his NBA trajectory might be comparable to his path at Kansas, the place it wasn’t till his fourth season that he performed with the type of confidence that allowed his full recreation to flourish.

Denver Nuggets wing Christian Braun, who performed three seasons with Agbaji at Kansas, received the nationwide title with him and was taken seven picks behind him in the 2022 draft, sees a few of that in his pal’s efficiency this season.

“Once he gets comfortable, that’s when he tends to succeed, once he figures things out, it starts to click for him,” mentioned Braun, who performed in the identical AAU program as Agbaji rising up and fills a comparable function as defender, slasher and energizer with the Nuggets. “He moved around different teams, and obviously had the ups and downs at summer league too. But, you know, he worked his ass off (this past summer) … and he works his ass off, always. So he’s a guy, I’m always confident, will figure it out in the end.”

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The Raptors gave Agbaji a further vote of confidence once they picked up the choice on his rookie contract for the 2024-25 season. It wasn’t all that stunning — having contributing gamers on rookie scale offers is nice enterprise — however on condition that Agbaji hadn’t been all that productive final season, or in the summer time, there was a world the place they didn’t choose up the choice and saved their books cleaner for subsequent summer time, however they didn’t and Agbaji is appreciative.

“I think it’s really good to know that you’re wanted in this place and in this organization,” mentioned Agbaji. “It’s nothing but love and I’m excited. It’s really motivating.”

With two years of runway — the remainder of this season and subsequent — to construct on a super begin, Agbaji is extra decided than ever, three years and three groups into his profession, to make an impression.

“Everyone had their own path,” he mentioned. “Some guys figure it out in two minutes, some people it’s two years, three years or even longer. But I feel like the work I put in this off-season has prepared me for this moment and the work I continuously put in is for the rest of my career, really. This is just the starting point, and I’m going to try and keep it going and stay focused on what I need to do every single night to get myself to that level I’m capable of playing.”

Even for a rebuilding Raptors crew that has taken their lumps this season, that might be a important win.

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