When the trade with the Jazz was made last February, the spotlight was logically on Kelly Olynyk. While the latter, hampered by his back, has not yet played this season, Ochai Agbaji demonstrates today that he was also an important piece of the exchange that saw Kira Lewis Jr, Otto Porter Jr. and a first round draft go to Utah.
Upon arriving in Canada, the Milwaukee-born fullback was certainly able to establish himself more regularly in the major five. But his skill problems (39% on shots including 22% from distance) did not cause his production to take off (barely 7 points on average). It has changed dimensions since the start of this season.
“ Offensively, he does a very good job of cutting and moving, creating space and scoring from those opportunities. And he’s constantly working on his shot. We are seeing progress in this area. He reacted well to everything we put in front of him and rose to another level “, salutes Darko Rajakovic.
His player is much more comfortable at 3-point (14/33 or 42%) and his athletic qualities allow him to finish in the circle without difficulty. As a result, he has only failed to reach the 10-point mark twice this season. And his average has almost doubled to 13 units per match.
He nonetheless remains an impact player in defense. Recently against the Kings, during a 22-point outing, we saw him pick off De'Aaron Fox during a one-on-one situation on the counterattack (the Kings leader ended up scoring in a second time).
The experience of the university title
“ He is very good for us in defense. I would say that is his greatest strength, his activity and his versatility. He fills a 'do a little bit of everything' role on offense, where he makes a lot of good cuts, spreads the play in the corners for 3-pointers and other things like that. He is aggressive in the fast game. So, yes, we needed more of that », notes Jakob Poeltl.
Used with the Nuggets in a similar register, Christian Braun, who played with Ochai Agbaji in Kansas where they won the national title in 2022, is not surprised by this trajectory.
“ Once he gets comfortable, that's when he tends to be successful, once he gets the hang of things, it starts to click for him. He changed teams and experienced ups and downs in Summer League. But he worked like crazy, he still works like crazy. So this is a guy that I'm sure will come out of this eventually. », Testifies his ex-teammate, drafted seven places after him in 2022 (21st).
Ochai Agbaji (14th) considers that “ good things happen if you focus on the right things, if you play the right way, if you really connect with your team and play this style of basketball, then everything will work out for you individually in the end . There is no need to worry. I won a national championship, and that’s what this whole year taught me. »
| Ochai Agbaji | Percentage | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Party | Int | Bp | Ct | Pts |
| 2022-23 | UTH | 59 | 21 | 42.7 | 35.5 | 81.2 | 0.7 | 1.3 | 2.1 | 1.1 | 1.7 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 7.9 |
| 2023-24 * | All Teams | 78 | 21 | 41.1 | 29.4 | 66.1 | 0.9 | 1.8 | 2.8 | 1.1 | 1.5 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 5.8 |
| 2023-24 * | UTH | 51 | 20 | 42.6 | 33.1 | 75.0 | 0.7 | 1.8 | 2.5 | 0.9 | 1.3 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 5.4 |
| 2023-24 * | TOR | 27 | 24 | 39.1 | 21.7 | 61.1 | 1.4 | 1.9 | 3.3 | 1.3 | 1.9 | 0.7 | 1.1 | 0.6 | 6.7 |
| 2024-25 | TOR | 9 | 31 | 56.8 | 42.4 | 68.8 | 1.2 | 3.2 | 4.4 | 2.0 | 2.8 | 1.3 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 13.0 |
| Total | 146 | 21 | 43.2 | 33.3 | 73.8 | 0.9 | 1.7 | 2.6 | 1.2 | 1.7 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 7.1 | |
How to read the stats? MJ = matches played; Min = Minutes; Shots = Successful shots / Attempted shots; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; Off = offensive rebound; Def=defensive rebound; Tot = Total rebounds; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost balls; Ct: Against; Pts = Points.
