The best and worst-case scenarios for Cavs’ Ochai Agbaji this season
By John Suchan
Best-case scenario
Trying to decide if Agbaji should begin the season as a starter is an interesting question. While it might seem like the best idea, would starting him from the start bring on too much pressure for the young player? But Agbaji did play all four years at Kansas and is a capable scorer.
Personally, I’d start him in the lineup because the team needs his scoring, defense, and hustle. He’ll probably be brought along gradually, but I personally do believe he could be a starter from the jump, despite that seemingly unlikely early.
Either way, Agbaji played in some Summer League games out in Las Vegas with the Cavs. In the four games he appeared in, he averaged 15 points and totaled 12 three-pointers from the perimeter. It was a nice showing by him and gave us fans a glimpse into what type of production we might see this season.
In college, Agbaji was a consistent scorer. He averaged 14.1 points his junior season and upped that to 18.8 points in his senior season. By the end of that season, he was averaging 40 % on his three-point attempts, taking about seven a game.
If the Cavs want scoring, then they should insert Agbaji in the starting five. Best-case scenario, he puts up six to eight three-pointers a night and shoots a respectable clip on those. He can work off that three-point shot and look to drive to the basket at times, draw contact and get to the free throw line more.
Current Cavs player Isaac Okoro was starting the last two seasons, but he can’t score buckets as Agbaji will likely be able to do from the word go. Okoro only averaged nine points a night. Inserting Agbaji into that starter’s role can give the team that extra boost, or at least as the season progresses, Agbaji can be viable in say, 20-22 minutes if he gets ample opportunities.
In a best-case scenario, him getting starting run often and being that three-and-D guy and establishing himself as a volume knockdown shooter would be huge.
Even better, if Agbaji has this type of season, we might be talking about him in the Rookie of the Year chatter. Our last Cavalier Evan Mobley, from last season, should have gotten the honors, so maybe Agbaji can earn it this season in a best-case scenario. Granted, that’d be a lofty outcome, as he’s not likely to have the workload of some others.