Nets acquire former lottery pick Ochai Agbaji and draft capital, hoping to reignite his scoring potential in Brooklyn.
The Brooklyn Nets made themselves useful on the eve of the Feb. 5 trade deadline, helping to facilitate a trade between the Los Angeles Clippers and Toronto Raptors surrounding 12-time All-Star Chris Paul.
After a massive early-season debacle with his former team, ESPN's Shams Charania announced a stunning trade sending Paul to the Raptors, and the Nets were able to acquire an intriguing young piece along with second-round draft capital in the process.
"The Los Angeles Clippers, Brooklyn Nets and Toronto Raptors have agreed on a multi-team trade sending Chris Paul to the Raptors and Ochai Agbaji, a 2032 Raptors second-rounder and cash to the Nets, sources tell ESPN," Charania shared via X on Wednesday afternoon.
The 25-year-old ex-Raptors guard Ochai Agbaji has struggled throughout his fourth NBA season, but the former No. 14 overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft has displayed plenty of potential in the past. In fact, the 2024-25 season saw the 6-foot-5 shooting guard author a scintillating offensive campaign, as he'd average a career-high 10.4 points and shoot 39.9% on 7.0 attempts from three-point range, displaying a level of polish previously unseen.
This season has been a 42-game long skid for the young guard, though, as his efficiency has plummeted to a 45.9% effective field goal percentage. However, that slide can be attributed to the inconsistent playing time he's received (career-low 15.5 minutes).
The Raptors have been shopping Agbaji for the better part of this season, and Brooklyn became the party most willing to lend a helping hand to the Clippers in their quest to offload Paul.
As the newest member of the Nets, Agbaji will hopefully be able to revive his shooting percentage from the outside if he receives more of a chance to shine as a featured member of the rotation.
Though he'd previously shown off a bit of athleticism and off-the-dribble game with the Raptors, plenty of Agbaji's work is done from the corners. For his career, 47.7% of his total three-point attempts have come from that spot on the floor, and he's connected on 39.3% of those chances.
Now that he'll be entering into the fold, Agbaji could be expected to compete with the likes of rookie guard Drake Powell for minutes at different points in the second half of the season, as it appears Powell has lost favor from Nets head coach Jordi Fernandez in recent games.
Although, there's a chance that Brooklyn is not done with their mission of gaining valued assets and flipping them for more draft capital, as it's possible that Agbaji could be passed along to a contender aiming to bolster their bench with an energetic sharpshooter.
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