Ochai Agbaji’s defensive versatility helping Raptors against NBA’s brightest stars

By John Chidley-Hill, The Canadian Press on November 15, 2024.

Toronto Raptors' Ochai Agbaji takes to the court before NBA Cup basketball action against Detroit Pistons in Toronto on Friday, November 15, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

TORONTO – If you want to quickly find Ochai Agbaji during a Toronto Raptors game, just look for the other team’s best player. He’s likely guarding them.

Agbaji has been tasked with covering some of the NBA’s biggest names this season with the Raptors missing key players like all-star forward Scottie Barnes and point guard Immanuel Quickley. At six-foot-five, Agbaji is a natural guard but he’s been assigned some of the toughest forwards in the league this year including LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo.

“I think it’s just about really, really trusting the scouting report, trusting the team, and trusting what our game plan is for those guys,” said Agbaji on Friday. “Just try to shut them down, and having ultra awareness for those people when they’re on the court.”

The 24-year-old typically came off the bench in his first two NBA seasons – split between the Utah Jazz and Toronto – but as a part of the Raptors’ starting lineup he’s hit career highs in most major stat categories including minutes played (31.8), points (13.2), rebounds (4.8) assists (1.8), and steals (1.4). His blocks are down from 0.6 to 0.5 season over season, a negligible difference.

He said he’s been able to be versatile on both sides of the ball for Toronto because he’s always grinding.

“The work hasn’t stopped even though the season has started,” Agbaji said after practice on Thursday. “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.

“I’ve continued to do that while allowing my body to maintain, stay fresh.”

He had nine points, three rebounds, and an assist in Friday’s 99-95 loss to the visiting Detroit Pistons.

After having to guard significantly larger players like James, Antetokounmpo, and helping Raptors centre Jakob Poeltl with reigning MVP Nikola Jokic, Agbaji spent most of the night defending Pistons guards Jaden Ivey, Malik Beasley and Cade Cunningham, who are all within an inch of him.

All three had uncharacterically poor shooting nights, with Cunningham — who typically is Detroit’s top scorer — going 6 for 21 on field-goal attempts.

“Guarding guys that like to post up more, it’s obviously a different scout,” Agbaji said on getting to play against guards. “Taking on the challenge (of another team’s best players) every night, I mean, it’s obviously tough, but something I like to do.”

Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic said he is proud of the way Agbaji has taken on the NBA’s best, especially with Toronto’s roster plagued by injuries.

“(He) pretty much matched the minutes of Giannis Antetokounmpo and he did a much better job in the post-ups,” said Rajakovic before Friday’s game. “That was the growth from the previous game (when) he was guarding LeBron James in those same situations.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 15, 2024.