Ochai Agbaji and Kevin Love could mesh well off Cavs bench next season

One would assume it’s going to take some time before we see rookie Ochai Agbaji play a considerable minutes-share with the Cleveland Cavaliers next season.

Agbaji was Cleveland’s #14 selection in the 2022 NBA Draft last month, and looks to maybe a ready-made catch-and-shoot threat, but there’s others involved and the team will likely gradually work him into things.

It does seem as if Agbaji should have his share of opportunities next season, though, based on how he could make a difference as a perimeter shooter, and help others off-ball as a result. Agbaji demonstrated how he could be a knockdown shooter if the chances do come for him with the Cavaliers in Las Vegas Summer League play, which was very promising.

As far as next season is concerned, I would think that he should be out there for stretches in the rotational sense, perhaps a few weeks into the season with him over time receiving some more minutes.

Time will tell, but I’d think we could see him eventually receive a solid dose of play in games, and I could foresee having good rapport with Kevin Love, regarding the Cavaliers bench in that realm. Love should again be in his supersub-type role next season, given the success that shift in his outlook had for him and the team in 2021-22.

Agbaji is a guy I could foresee that might play regularly for stretches with Love, too, which could again be two players that could play off each other well throughout games for Cleveland.

Agbaji and Love could mesh well in stretches for the Cavs off the bench next season.

As we touched on, Agbaji could potentially be a knockdown-type shooter for the Cavaliers, based on how quick he can his shots off, his release point and how he showed growth as a movement shooter at Kansas. Agbaji hit 37.7 percent and 40.7 percent of his three-point attempts in his junior and then senior seasons with the Jayhawks, and in Summer League, he displayed how he could be a heck of a deep threat from downtown.

And to me, while we’ll have to see how he adjusts to the NBA, the capability could be there for him to be a quality catch-and-shoot player pretty early on in his career, given what he did in recent seasons at KU. I could see Agbaji, with his movement shooting growth over his time at Kansas, play well as another key off-ball threat in time in with Love, too.

Love and Cedi Osman had nice chemistry last season in bench stretches, screening for each other at times, which helped lead to open looks for them, or others, and Love’s shooting presence could help Agbaji in the same light.

However, with Osman seemingly being on the outside looking in, or a possible trade piece feasibly, Agbaji could maybe end up being an Osman-type contributor, but is perhaps more consistent in time, and can be more viable defensively.

I’d think with Love’s perimeter touch, he and Agbaji could screen for each other off-ball effectively, and either could get their share of looks from Darius Garland, among others, leading to quality offense. Love, for what it’s worth, led Cleveland in three-pointers made last season, hit 39.2 percent from three, and finished second in the voting for the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year award, despite only playing 22.5 minutes per game.

It will take some time for the Cavaliers to sort things out involving the perimeter rotation, but with how Agbaji could help free up space for Garland, Collin Sexton, if he’s back, and/or Caris LeVert, Agbaji should definitely be a factor.

And if with both being such intelligent off-ball players, Agbaji and Love could play off one another well in stretches, also with Love’s passing abilities out of the mid/high-post in mind and having great vision to hit skips. Agbaji’s cutting timing and athletic finishing plays into that in regards to the Love element, too, in my opinion.

From my perspective, the chemistry between Agbaji and Love as crucial shooters, and Love as a secondary playmaker, could be very on-point next season, and maybe beyond, if Love sticks around past 2022-23. It is paramount that Love, who will be in age-34 season next year, stays healthy, though, which could play out based on how the team managed his minutes last season.

It’ll be intriguing to see how these two Cavs players are utilized in their minutes together in 2022-23, anyway.