Raptors Stock Watch: 3 Risers, 2 fallers from up-and-down Summer League
Faller: Ochai Agbaji
It's unusual for a third-year lottery pick to still be receiving minutes in Summer League, but Ochai Agbaji has had such a disappointing start to his NBA career that both he and the Raptors agreed it made sense for him to play in the desert. The results were not encouraging.
The former Kansas wing averaged a mere six points per game on 35.7 percent shooting from the field and Antarctic-ly cold 14.3 percent shooting from 3-point range. He was active on the glass but otherwise just looked like a guy out there, unable to get shots to fall or create offense for himself or others.
Agbaji has a shot to prove himself in training camp and the preseason before the Raptors make a decision on his fourth-year option, but given how poorly he has played through two years in the league and his abysmal showing in Las Vegas, it looks like Toronto will decline that option and he will be forced to fight for a roster spot on another team next summer.
Riser: Jamal Shead
This is something of a qualified evaluation, but Jamal Shead walks away from Las Vegas Summer League as a riser after an extremely solid showing. Not every game was perfect, but the overall takeaway is that he looks like a perfectly capable backup point guard who can compete for the backup role as early as this season.
Shead was active defensively, with quick hands defensively generating steals and deflections - that's exactly what the draft report said on him, but it's important to see that in a pseudo-NBA setting. He was also fearless in the paint as a finisher and rebounder, even getting to a number of offensive rebounds before much bigger opponents. He was a steady hand running the offense and showed a tight handle and quick burst to beat his man off the dribble and get into the paint.
The reason it's a qualified label is that Shead joined in with the rest of the team in being unable to hit anything from outside. His best path to consistent NBA minutes is pairing his defense and ball-handling with a confident and accurate 3-pointer. If he adds that to his game he should be a longtime NBA rotation player.