Has Cavs pick Agbaji reached his ceiling? ‘A bunch of crap’
Kansas coach Bill Self knew the label NBA draft analysts placed on Ochai Agbaji, and Self ’s opinion on that was extremely blunt.
Because Agbaji is 22 years old and played four years in college, some believe he’s reached his ceiling.
The Cavaliers didn’t agree, selecting the 6-foot-5, 215-pound guard with the 14th pick in Thursday night’s draft.
Another member of the Jayhawks’ 2022 national championship team, shooting guard Christian Braun, was chosen by the Denver Nuggets with the 21st pick.
“People say Ochai, since he’s 22, and CB’S 21, that they’re closer to the ceiling. That’s a bunch of crap,” Self said. “They can both get better. They were both late bloomers.
“I think that Ochai, his intangibles have improved so much from a competitiveness … even though he always was, he’s learned that there’s a different gear you have to get to to compete at the highest level. When you work as hard as he does in that fifth gear, every single possession, every single drill, every single shot, you’re going to get better. He’s a good shooter, great shooter, he’s going to become exceptional.”
The ‘ceiling’ issue didn’t bother Cavs president of basketball operations Koby Altman.
“You have four years of data. You’ve seen him get better each year,” Altman said. “I don’t want to put a ceiling on him because he has at every pass from high school to his senior year of high school, being under-recruited, goes to Kansas, they redshirt him his freshman year, they lift the redshirt because he’s doing so well in practice because he can compete and play.
“Grows his way to becoming firstteam All- American, Big 12 Player of the Year. So does he figure out the NBA and have some upside? I think he does. But I think immediately we know what he’s going to be able to do. He’s going to defend, he’s gonna compete, and I know [coach J.B Bickerstaff] wants to run him off a lot of stuff and get him some shots. Certainly more of a finished product than what we’ve drafted in the past.”
The Cavs had selected one-and-done players with their first pick the previous four years, taking Collin Sexton of Alabama eighth in 2018, Darius Garland of Vanderbilt fifth in 2019, Isaac Okoro of Auburn fifth in 2020 and Evan Mobley of USC third last year.
“Definitely different than the last three or four years in terms of what we’re looking for,” Altman said. “This was more about who can come in and really help us and help this team achieve. A different process in terms of trying to find the most upside wing talent versus who can be the best fit. It was certainly a luxury to have that draft pick this year, and I guess that is a silver lining of just missing the playoffs.”
Altman said Agbaji’s shooting was too good to pass up. Last season, Agbaji finished second in the Big 12 in 3-point field goal percentage (40.9), which ranked 23rd in NCAA Division I. He hit 6 of 7 3s and scored 21 points in an NCAA semifinal victory over Villanova. His 250 career 3-pointers rank fourth in Kansas history.
Self said he primarily dealt with the Nuggets on Braun and hadn’t heard from the Cavaliers much, but others on his staff had.
“They wanted perimeter shooting and nobody’s going to shoot any better in the draft for the most part than what Och does,” Self said of the Cavs.
But the Cavs were also impressed with Agbaji’s character, with Altman calling him “a great human being.”
Self said several traits stand out in that regard.
“He’s very unselfish, he’s very thoughtful, he’s a ‘we guy’, he’s conscientious, he cares about others,” Self said. “I think from a character standpoint, and I’d throw CB in the same group, it’s a short roll call to find people that are better people — what you hope your son could grow up and be — moreso than these two. They’ll add value just from an intangible standpoint and from a culture standpoint, I guarantee it the first day they step into the first practice. They’re winners and they’ll add to whatever culture is already in place, they’ll make it better.”