Ochai Agbaji Has Been a Revelation for Raptors Early This Year

The Toronto Raptors have seen Ochai Agbaji defy expectations and develop into a key contributor for this organization moving forward

Nov 10, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Toronto Raptors guard Ochai Agbaji (30) moves the ball against Los Angeles Lakers guard D'Angelo Russell (1) during the second half at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Hui-Imagn Images / Jonathan Hui-Imagn Images

Ochai Agbaji’s season wasn’t supposed to start this way.

Had the Toronto Raptors been healthy to start the season, Agbaji would have begun the year as a depth rotation piece for Toronto. He would have been just another wing off the bench for Toronto, playing spot minutes for the Raptors’ second unit behind RJ Barrett and Gradey Dick.

There were times over this past summer when it seemed like even that might be a stretch. Agbaji struggled so mightily in Summer League that it looked like he might not even crack the rotation.

But then came a wave of injuries and Toronto had nowhere else to go.

Agbaji began the season in Toronto’s starting lineup and has sized every opportunity since. He’s gone from a fringe rotation player to an intriguing young prospect who looks like an important depth piece for Toronto’s rebuild moving forward.

Who expected this?

Supposedly Dick did.

“Of course, the way that he works you can't not see it,” said Dick who spent the offseason working out with Agbaji in Kansas. “The way that he goes 100 miles an hour every single drill. I feel like a lot of coaches say that guys go hard every drill, but if you watch Ochai work out behind closed doors, away from the media and stuff like that, and you can actually tell there's a difference to his work ethic. Everything that he's doing is earned, for sure.”

What’s been clear is Agbaji put in a ton of work reforming his shot with Toronto’s coaching staff and working on improving his balance. He was regularly seen getting in reps with Raptors coach Darko Rajaković and Toronto’s assistant coaches as they tried to tweak his mechanics.

The results?

Agbaji is shooting 47.9% from three-point range and leads the league in corner three-point efficiency at 62.1%, the best of anyone with at least 20 attempts so far this year. Those percentages mark an increase of roughly 20 percentage points over Agbaji’s percentages last season.

“Leading up to the season, before training camp I was working at nights, coming in for some touch up, getting some shots up, that really hasn’t stopped,” Agbaji said Thursday.

This is what this year is all about for Toronto.

The Raptors aren’t going to win very many games this year, certainly not when they’re as injured as they’ve been lately. But the hope is Toronto can start to answer some questions this year and find out who is good enough to be part of this organization moving forward.

In Agbaji’s case, early returns this season suggest he’s ready to move into the spotlight for Toronto and join the core alongside Scottie Barnes, Immanuel Quickley, RJ Barrett, and Dick.