Ochai Agbaji: 70 days a Cavalier

[red.]

Agbaji is Klay Thompson with higher shoulders.

I wouldn’t mind that! What’s your Jalen Williams comparison? I love his game.

My top 3 @ #14:
Jalen Williams
Dalen Terry
Ochai Agbaji

I really hope he can develop his handle and playmaking. His hands are big enough to be able to control the ball.

 

[Prof123]

So my Jalen Williams pick is looking real good so far. Seems like his burst has improved as well as his pop. Really heady player that plays with great pace that can do it all on the offensive end. If Koby really had him at 14, then it makes me more confident. But then again.. he wanted Dieng.

Reading the good words about Ochai makes me feel tingly and excited inside. I hope it's not bullshit like they did with Okoro. Let's go!

I thought he was my boy! Excitement about Williams really grew on this forum in the last few weeks before the draft. Some crackerjack researcher can figure out which one of us instigated the hype

 

[Randolphkeys]

I thought he was my boy! Excitement about Williams really grew on this forum in the last few weeks before the draft. Some crackerjack researcher can figure out which one of us instigated the hype

A whole lot of us were pushing Jalen Williams after his monster performance at the combine.

The ice water on J. Will fever came when Fedor reported that the Cavs front office did not prepare a film package of Williams for JBB to watch, but prepared several others including Dieng, Eason, Terry, and Ogbaji.

By draft day, however, some Cavs insiders began to leak the Cavs interest in J. Will had grown, but they still had Dieng at the top of the stack.

I never liked Dieng much, for the record. Highest ceiling and by far the lowest floor of the targets.

 

[Sir'Dom Pointer]

I wouldn’t mind that! What’s your Jalen Williams comparison? I love his game.

My top 3 @ #14:
Jalen Williams
Dalen Terry
Ochai Agbaji

I really hope he can develop his handle and playmaking. His hands are big enough to be able to control the ball.

He plays like Harden to me lol. Without the early athleticism.

 

[InBoobieWeTrust]

For me its drafting Sexton over Mikal Bridges.

Tough to take the wing that everyone pegged as a 3 and D with a high floor but a low ceiling with your first rebuilding lottery pick. In hindsight yeah it’s be great to have him now but we didn’t know we had Garland and Mobley coming the next two years and Allen coming for nearly free via trade. But at the time it definitely would not have went over well.

 

[Cavatt]

Joking aside, I usually hate player comparison, but I will take the bait. JR Smith had almost the exact same length, but wasnt as big as Agbaji strength wise, I think people are going to be suprised by Agbaji's strength and defense.

But JR Smith from a natural talent stand point should of been a consistent all star. JR is a much more natural scorer and Agbaji had to work his way into being a scorer. Agbaji can shoot and is athletic, but I think he will have trouble driving to the basket. JR fell in love with his shot way too much, but he could drive when he wanted to.

I really think Ochai will be able to play the SF position, even against longer players because he isnt giving up nearly as much as Okoro he is 4 inches shorter than Ochai from a standing reach perspective. (I think Ochai becomes a solid NBA player and it was a solid pick).

I am still on team Jalen Williams, but he wasnt an option and i think we got a good 3-D guy in Agbaji who should be a solid contributor.

Agbaji is more like JRs final form of a 3 and d wing. Jr prob had better handles too,but he wasn't that effective using them.

Totally agree JR had a very high talent level he never reached. Underrated defender. He really did a lot to neutralize Klay

 

[Randolphkeys]

Tough to take the wing that everyone pegged as a 3 and D with a high floor but a low ceiling with your first rebuilding lottery pick. In hindsight yeah it’s be great to have him now but we didn’t know we had Garland and Mobley coming the next two years and Allen coming for nearly free via trade. But at the time it definitely would not have went over well.

Counterpoint... read the first 20 pages of the Sexton thread. Can't say the status quo went over well either.

I personally favored going with Bridges because combo guards are a dime a dozen, but I also understood the reasoning at the time.

 

[Cavatt]

Counterpoint... read the first 20 pages of the Sexton thread. Can't say the status quo went over well either.

I personally favored going with Bridges because combo guards are a dime a dozen, but I also understood the reasoning at the time.

Bridges was too small and weak to play SF lol. Too skinny

 

[Randolphkeys]

Bridges was too small and weak to play SF lol. Too skinny

I heard "too old and maxed out" a lot living as a castaway on Mikal Bridges Island in 2018.

 

[NMCav]

Counterpoint... read the first 20 pages of the Sexton thread. Can't say the status quo went over well either.

I personally favored going with Bridges because combo guards are a dime a dozen, but I also understood the reasoning at the time.

Also first two years in the league Bridges looked overmatched and overwhelmed. By year 2 Sexton was a 21 PPG scorer on decent efficiency. For the common fan a scoring guard will excite them more then a 3-D wing. Fans could get over being unhappy with the Sexton pick quicker because he scored buckets. Fans being mad over Bridges would take a lot longer to get over with his performances his first 2 seasons in the NBA.

 

[Randolphkeys]

Also first two years in the league Bridges looked overmatched and overwhelmed. By year 2 Sexton was a 21 PPG scorer on decent efficiency. For the common fan a scoring guard will excite them more then a 3-D wing. Fans could get over being unhappy with the Sexton pick quicker because he scored buckets. Fans being mad over Bridges would take a lot longer to get over with his performances his first 2 seasons in the NBA.

Checked the stats to confirm my memory, but Mikal really only struggled his rookie year. This is no surprise, because the Suns were tanking for Ayton and lasted the entire season without any point guards on the roster. Once Phoenix landed Ayton, they traded for Rubio and Bridges had a strong 1.5 VORP. His offense had a ways to go, but he was a legit 3&D by year two.

 

[NMCav]

Checked the stats to confirm my memory, but Mikal really only struggled his rookie year. This is no surprise, because the Suns were tanking for Ayton and lasted the entire season without any point guards on the roster. Once Phoenix landed Ayton, they traded for Rubio and Bridges had a strong 1.5 VORP. His offense had a ways to go, but he was a legit 3&D by year two.

I remember suns fans who wanted him out of town after his 2nd season. Advanced stats paint a better picture then the raw stats. Hypothetically speaking if Cavs did draft him and he was at 9 PPG as a 2nd year player picked in the top 10 numerous fans would have been raging. Bridges is very good at his role now. But even though Advanced stats paint a different picture fans would not have been happy with Bridges until year 3.

 

[Randolphkeys]

Hypothetically speaking if Cavs did draft him and he was at 9 PPG as a 2nd year player picked in the top 10 numerous fans would have been raging.

Well I've never wavered on my belief numerous fans are morons.

 

[mds]

We should just be glad we didnt take Marvin Bagley over luka.

 

[NMCav]

Well I've never wavered on my belief numerous fans are morons.

I don't disagree with you. But teams have to Sell tickets to those idiots. It's alot harder to sell a low scoring 3-D wing for a couple years while having a shitty roster then it is to sell a high scoring guard.