Ochai Agbaji found himself caught up in the type of quiet NBA offseason that would make any unproven 26-year-old nervous. Despite some promising moments with the Brooklyn Nets following his trade away from the Toronto Raptors, teams were not rushing to sign the young wing.
Midway through September, a team finally stepped up to give Agbaji a chance at a roster spot in 2026-27. Toronto will not need to look beyond their own division to see who that team was. The defending champion New York Knicks extended the opportunity to the former Raptors wing.
The Knicks announced Agabaji was being given an Exhibit 9 Contract. This will allow Ochai to join New York for training camp and compete for one of their final roster spots. As things stand, they have two vacancies open for the newcomers who will be put to the task.
Agbaji will not be the only player who is joining the Knicks under these circumstances. New York is also bringing in the likes of former Raptors target John Konchar, Drew Eubanks, James Wiseman, and Bruce Brown on Exhibit 9 deals as well. Ochai will get his shot, but it will certainly be an uphill battle.
Ochai Agbaji will try to keep his spot in the NBA with the Knicks
Agbaji ran out of favor with the Raptors during the 2025-26 season. After his 3-point shot completely disappeared on him, Toronto wound up moving him in a cost-cutting move to Brooklyn before last year's trade deadline.
It did look like Agbaji regained some confidence in that department during his time with the Nets. The former lottery pick shot 34.9 percent from beyond the arc in 20 regular season appearances for Brooklyn. It was a bounce-back, but not as strong as he would have needed.
That left Agbaji in that awkward no 3-and-D archetype. Ochai has proven he can be capable as a defender. The former Raptors is far from elite on that end, but he can hold his own against matchups effectively on most days. That is only going to matter so much when he cannot deliver much offense.
The 2024-25 season when Agbaji averaged a career-high 10.4 points per game, shooting 39.9 percent from deep, offered an encouraging glimpse of the type of player NBA coaches would have wanted him to be. That campaign looks more like an outlier than anything else right now.
Training camp with the Knicks will give him an opportunity to prove the NBA is not going to leave him behind. The odds will not entirely be in his favor, though, among stiff competition.
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