In a perfect world, we could just enjoy having an abundance of talent on every NBA roster. We could pay players what they want, keep them in town with no worries, and everyone would be happy. But the NBA is just as much a business as it is a sports league. As Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic pointed out once upon a time, he can’t make everyone happy like an ice cream man.
And to that point, I believe most of Raptors Nation and the majority of basketball discussion circles already know that Toronto is very close to exceeding the luxury tax. In fact, as I will explain shortly, they are already a few million dollars over it or projected to be.
In a recent YouTube video for The Athletic titled "Are the Raptors a Playoff Team?" Raptors analysts Es Baraheni and Eric Koreen discussed which player on Toronto's current roster is most likely to be traded. Koreen highlights RJ Barrett as the top candidate, considering the long-term implications. However, if the main goal is to simply avoid the luxury tax, he suggests focusing on Ochai Agbaji instead.
Eric Koreen's comments were as follows:
Trading Ochai Agbaji is the Raptors' answer to evade luxury tax
"Ochai Agbaji jumps out just as he's in the last year of his rookie-scale contract. He's a nice player who some teams might want the restricted rights, bird rights on. And as we just outlined, like the Raptors have Gradey Dick and Ja'Kobe Walter and if it's time to pay [Ochai] Agbaji and they don't really have room for it, that's somebody you could trade into a team's mid-level exception. If they still have it to use and it's a relatively easy trade to make, in terms of the cap mechanics of it all. So those are the two names that jump out. If you know, disaster hits, obviously things, you could probably put any name in there almost, but right now it's [RJ] Barrett in a bigger move or [Ochai] Agbaji in a smaller move for me. "Eric Koreen, Sep 26, 2025
Agbaji is currently on an expiring $6.3 million deal. As Koreen points out, that amount of money is very flexible in today’s NBA. There are many teams that could acquire him by offering a few second-round picks or say a late or protected first-round pick. In return, they would gain Agbaji’s bird rights and a solid 3-and-D wing to strengthen their roster.
I would certainly be sad to see him go since Agbaji has quickly become one of my favorite Raptors players overall, however, I understand the potential reasoning behind the decision. He's eligible for a new extension, which I mentioned in a recent piece, but Toronto might be financially unable to meet his desired number. On the bright side, as Koreen points out, Toronto still has promising options in Gradey Dick and Ja'Kobe Walter if Agbaji moves on to a new home. This is similar to how they were able to foster growth in Jamal Shead after parting ways with Davion Mitchell.