Raptors Coach Shares Developmental Details For Key Rotation Player

Toronto Raptors coach Darko Rajaković says Ochai Agbaji has made a change to his three-point stroke that the organization hopes will help improve his offense

Mar 3, 2024; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Raptors guard Ochai Agbaji (30) shoots the ball as Charlotte Hornets forward Brandon Miller (24) defends in the first half at Scotiabank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports / Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports

Catch-and-shoot three-pointers are supposed to be easy.

Across the league, players made 37.7% of catch-and-shoot three-pointers last season. Those shots are essentially offensive gold. If someone can collapse the opposing defense and make a kick-out pass to a shooter whose feet are set, your offense is humming.

Last season, the Toronto Raptors generated nearly 2,100 catch-and-shoot three-pointers. That ranked as the ninth most in the league and represented an increase of nearly 2.5 additional catch-and-shoot three-pointers per game as the organization transitioned away from former Raptors coach Nick Nurse's more methodical offensive approach.

But Toronto hopes to improve that number this season and one way to do that is to turn Ochai Agbaji into a better three-point shooter.

The 24-year-old started in 18 of Toronto's final 27 games after the organization acquired him from the Utah Jazz at the trade deadline. He proved to be an adequate defender, thanks to his 6-foot-5 frame and 6-foot-10 wingspan, sliding into the first unit as Toronto battled a slew of injuries and personal absences, and was tasked with taking on the opposing team's best guard on a regular basis.

But offensively, Agbaji was a dissapointment.

He shot just 39.1% from the field, 21.7% from three-point range, and his 28.9% stroke on catch-and-shoot threes ranked as the worst among guards with his volume of attempts last season.

Toronto hopes to change that this season and if Agbaji is going to stick around with the organization on another contract he knows he needs to too.

"I think he made adjustments on his shot," Raptors coach Darko Rajaković told reporters in Las Vegas on Thursday. "We were able to make some corrections and he's been doing a really good job in practice and workout setup. Now it's gonna be time for him to use those and just to be confident in his shot."

That's why Agbaji will be suiting up for Toronto at Summer League this weekend as one of the oldest NBA players on a roster in Vegas. He's spent part of the offseason working on his shot and looking for ways to be a more impactful offensive player.

"There are definitely situations when he needs to do a good job of spotting up and being ready to shoot," Rajaković said. "For him, it's not that much having the ball in his hands to create, it's how he's going to create when he does not have the ball in his hands."

This season could be the make-or-break year for Agbaji's NBA career. He was a lottery pick in 2022 after a four-year career at Kansas but has yet to carve out a role for himself despite seeing regular rotation minutes first in Utah and then in Toronto. He's shown flashes of being a tough on-ball defender, but his lack of offensive development has been alarming.

"He has tremendous athletic ability. He needs to learn how good he is and what he can do," Rajaković said. "I think the main thing for him is offensively to play a simple, to be a good cutter, spot-up shooter, driver, and then on the defensive end to do a really good job of being really disruptive, really aggressive, and to step up in that way."

Looking at Toronto's young core, there's a lot of offensive firepower. Immanuel Quickley, RJ Barrett, Gradey Dick, and Ja'Kobe Walter all project as more offensively skilled players. Save for Scottie Barnes and potentially Jonathan Mogbo, this team doesn't have a defensive star locked in for the future.

Maybe Agbaji can be that. Toronto is going to give him ample opportunity this summer to help him work on his game and what he shows this upcoming season will decide what his future looks like with the Raptors organization.