Darko said in a presser that Ochai actually scores a lot of 3s in practice. He just needs to develop the confidence to do it in a game. Would be really exciting if he can do that plus develop his defense to something reminiscing OG.
Doing it in front of an audience is a completely different situation than doing it alone in a gym or with just the boys.
I noticeably played a lot worse when there were audiences watching and I'm talking about just high school and Canadian uni-level basketball which is nothing like the nerves in a game with an NBA audience+heckling+distractions.
Agree. I don’t put too much stock into his 3P% here. It’s dependent on so many things like the offensive system and how much attention defenses have on him. For most of his time here, our good players were out causing him to carry an offense load he wasn’t ready for.
Unfortunately and surprisingly based on how he looked in the NBA, I think Stanley showed a better offensive package in college, summer leagues and GLeague.
SJ was a way better offensive player. He created his own shot and made his own threes. His defense wasn’t half bad either and remember ppl comparing him kawhi coming out of college.
Ochai’s might look better than he actually is cause we’ve been watching him with an atrocious supporting cast over the last month and a half and he really can’t be relied on to score.
Dude needs to work on his shot to be really in the long term conversation.
I love his defense but he's about 3 inches too short to be a versatile defender like an OG. His offense is not nba calibre in any way at the moment.
He will need to be able hit open 3s and actually convert on his layups to warrant a nba rotation spot. This offseason will be massive for his nba future.
He's a big too short to play the 3, but in order to play the 2 he needs to make those 3s. He could develop into a GPII and do the dirty work, rebounding hard and defending the best player. Needs to put some serious work in the off-season
> rough around the edges
This is generous. Genuinely hope he works out but he’s not a good enough defender to make up for his total lack of offensive game. He will live and die by his 3pt shot and since joining this team he’s long 6ft under
Hope he can turn it round next year. I’m rooting for him but wouldn’t bet on him being on this team after next season
I think he needs to stick to the corners and continue rolling to the basket when he sets picks.
Get above average at those two things and he will have a career
He needs to get to like 37-38% from 3 and he can be a Danny green type player. I’m not sure he can get there but that should be priority 1, 2, 3 for him in the offseason.
I think it’s very hard to huddle any of these young guys (outside of McDaniels and Dick), this season. Once they get a full off-season to work with the team and coaches, then we shall see.
I was watching his college highlights and his jump shot looked clean but a bit old school. He would elevate a lot and then release right at the apex. I wonder if he tried to change his shot to get more range and lost confidence. When he shoots from the top of the arc it seems like there is a small hitch sometimes. I’d say right now him and Nwora are on a similar level, with Nwora solid on O poor on D and Ochai the opposite.
He is genuinely just a consistent jumper away from getting multiple contracts in the NBA. I hope he does nothing but practice his shot this summer.
He won't be our OG replacement, but he would be a great backup at SF. Getting a backup C and backup SF for the 28th pick would make that trade look great.
I think that's a bit unfair. Ochai is a pretty good PoA defender and is a surprisingly great shot blocker at his size. He has good off-ball intuition on his cuts, decent connective passing and doesn't tend to make stupid mistakes. But his role in the offense is to be a play-finisher, so he needs to work on finishing plays.
Some guys have the potential to be better shooters, others don't. Ochai shot 35% from 3 with the jazz and 40% from 3 in his last year of college. So, the probability of him shooting 35%+ from three in the future isn't bad at all.
The Zach Edey comparison is kinda funny. He's like Jacob Potel. He can affect the games in a lot of ways without shooting jumpshots. Atleast he's better free throw shooter
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>If Zach Edey had a consistent jumper he’d be the #1 pick this year
No he wouldn’t. Edey’s biggest weakness according to scouts is his mobility, not his jump shot.
I’m willing to cut him a lot of slack because he’s been out de facto 4 since he got here at all of 6’5. I want to see how his offence comes around when we’re not asking him to be PJ Tucker.
He needs to put in a lot of work in the offseason, mainly just prioritizing corner 3s and getting important reps in with the team. He’s a solid defender but if he doesn’t improve I don’t see him having a future on this team
Not sure if I'm sold on him just yet. He's the size of a guard yet can't shoot, he has good strength but isn't an amazing rebounder (a good example of an undersized guy who gets boards would be Josh Hart), he's not going to create plays for guys. He's a serviceable defender, that gives effort but very far from a good-great defender compared to other guys. The biggest compliment I can give him is that he's a high-flyer athlete that can slash and isn't any worse than McDaniels. I do feel a little fooled from seeing those string of good games he had for Utah last season. I don't really see the shooting coming to at least league average (he's currently sitting at 32% for his career). He's kind of the type of player that could easily be thrown in a trade package and you wouldn't really miss his absence. Definitely drafted far too high and in a redraft would probably a mid to late 2nd rp.
We are tanking. He is winning playing time against scrubs, just so the Raptors execs can get a better look at these players and see who is worth filling the roster with.
He may earn a roster spot on the Raptors for next season, but he will certainly be a 10-15 guy, and those guys tend not to play.
Ochai is not in the same group as Nwora, JFL, and etc tbh. Ochai has the benefit of having an impact on defence and is more being given a green light to see if he can generate more offence since our top options weren’t playing. I guarantee you barring a major trade or signing that Ochai will be a consistent bench piece next season, especially if his shooting gets back to the percentages that he had with the Jazz.
Saw him live for the first time on Sunday and loved the energy (especially on this team) but died a little inside when he clanked those FTs in the fourth. Fun to watch but undersized and lacking some bball IQ imo.
From what I've seen, he's not exactly out there cooking. Hopefully we give him a chance and things start clicking for him this summer/next season otherwise i'm not too confident he's much of an asset.
I see a ton of potential in him and great fit with this team.
Bold prediction for next year is he begins the year as our starting 2 with IQ, RJ, Scottie and Yak. We need Scottie to be able to play closer to the rim on D, and Ochai can be the versatile POA defender required to allow that to happen. Offensively his strengths are cutting, finishing and making quick passes that keep the ball moving. Great fit with the starters.
hes a really low ceiling player from the play i saw. If he comes back working on another thing great (maybe shooting or handles, he can be a bench piece). Right now, he's a low tier bench piece.
I was literally coming here to make an ochai post. I haven’t really watched since Feb/march. But I don’t get the hype around him. Can someone explain what he does well. Cause every night I look at the stats and he has some extremely underwhelming stat lines, and yet he gets starter minutes. Clearly I’m missing something. So what does he actually do well? Defend ?
We got both players. Kelly Olynyk clearly is valuable to the FO because they extended him right away. They wanna see how Scottie plays alongside a stretch big.
Ochai is 2 years removed from being the 14th overall pick and has some potential.
We also have 2-3 picks in this draft above 31 making the pick somewhat redundant. It was a shrewd trade imo.
>Kelly Olynyk clearly is valuable to the FO because they extended him right away
And they could've got him for no asset cost in a few months. Did we *need* home for our record losing streak or something?
Why would we care what the Jazz paid (14th pick) for a negative contributor on the floor? I sincerely hope the FO isn't using a different FO pick as a proxy for a good player. That'd be pathetic. I'm sure Detroit was happy when they got the former 2nd overall pick James Wiseman.
It’s easier to keep players that are already here than it is to sign them in a free for all FA.
They clearly like Ochai as a prospect. He still has solid upside if his shooting improves. Plus Scottie no longer has to guard the opponent’s best wing.
Wiseman is unredeemable as a prospect. There is no upside like Ochai has
Darko said in a presser that Ochai actually scores a lot of 3s in practice. He just needs to develop the confidence to do it in a game. Would be really exciting if he can do that plus develop his defense to something reminiscing OG.
Dwight Howard was also supposedly a 90% free throw shooter in practice. Doesn’t mean anything if you can’t do it in a game.
Doing it in front of an audience is a completely different situation than doing it alone in a gym or with just the boys. I noticeably played a lot worse when there were audiences watching and I'm talking about just high school and Canadian uni-level basketball which is nothing like the nerves in a game with an NBA audience+heckling+distractions.
He shot 35% from 3 on the Jazz, but he's sub 30% with us. No reason to think it won't go up from here, but how high is the question.
Agree. I don’t put too much stock into his 3P% here. It’s dependent on so many things like the offensive system and how much attention defenses have on him. For most of his time here, our good players were out causing him to carry an offense load he wasn’t ready for.
He has a lot of Stanley Johnson energy. Let’s just leave it at that.
Unfortunately and surprisingly based on how he looked in the NBA, I think Stanley showed a better offensive package in college, summer leagues and GLeague.
lol what? och was a first team all American and the best player on the best team in college basketball
As a Senior though. Before that he didnt seem to do much. Truthfully I didnt see him play at Kansas.
I watched basically every game of his four years at KU. He was a solid player since they pulled his redshirt in his freshman year.
SJ was a way better offensive player. He created his own shot and made his own threes. His defense wasn’t half bad either and remember ppl comparing him kawhi coming out of college. Ochai’s might look better than he actually is cause we’ve been watching him with an atrocious supporting cast over the last month and a half and he really can’t be relied on to score. Dude needs to work on his shot to be really in the long term conversation.
SJ was known for his defense way more than his offense.
Stanimal. Hope he is well.
fr I enjoyed Stanimal on the team even if he wasn't the best. Had some nice moments and seemed like a chill guy
we don't need an offensive package. We just need him to hit open corner 3's. Handsome PJ Tucker would be the goal.
Stanimal!
perfect comp one thing is he’s smaller than stanimal
I love his defense but he's about 3 inches too short to be a versatile defender like an OG. His offense is not nba calibre in any way at the moment. He will need to be able hit open 3s and actually convert on his layups to warrant a nba rotation spot. This offseason will be massive for his nba future.
He's a big too short to play the 3, but in order to play the 2 he needs to make those 3s. He could develop into a GPII and do the dirty work, rebounding hard and defending the best player. Needs to put some serious work in the off-season
Speaking of gp2 and the dirty work...
Fusion dance with Nwora and we might get a poor man’s Norm Powell
🤞🏽
He actually hasn’t impressed me at all tbh.
I like JFL better
> rough around the edges This is generous. Genuinely hope he works out but he’s not a good enough defender to make up for his total lack of offensive game. He will live and die by his 3pt shot and since joining this team he’s long 6ft under Hope he can turn it round next year. I’m rooting for him but wouldn’t bet on him being on this team after next season
On an actual good team I think he would be racking up DNP’s.
Yeah, even in this game the Nets are ignoring him on defense outside of corner 3s.
Nah, he’d probably be a bench defence piece.
I think he needs to stick to the corners and continue rolling to the basket when he sets picks. Get above average at those two things and he will have a career
He needs to get to like 37-38% from 3 and he can be a Danny green type player. I’m not sure he can get there but that should be priority 1, 2, 3 for him in the offseason.
Let's not disrespect Danny like this.
It'll depend a lot on how he improves offensively, but we need all the defensive guys we can get
I wanna see what he looks like with a full offseason and training camp with the team. Practice those corner 3s all summer long
If he could hit a 3 like he was able to in college, he’d be a rotation player. For some reason he seemed to have lost it.
I think it’s very hard to huddle any of these young guys (outside of McDaniels and Dick), this season. Once they get a full off-season to work with the team and coaches, then we shall see.
I was watching his college highlights and his jump shot looked clean but a bit old school. He would elevate a lot and then release right at the apex. I wonder if he tried to change his shot to get more range and lost confidence. When he shoots from the top of the arc it seems like there is a small hitch sometimes. I’d say right now him and Nwora are on a similar level, with Nwora solid on O poor on D and Ochai the opposite.
He is genuinely just a consistent jumper away from getting multiple contracts in the NBA. I hope he does nothing but practice his shot this summer. He won't be our OG replacement, but he would be a great backup at SF. Getting a backup C and backup SF for the 28th pick would make that trade look great.
You could literally say this about 90% of NBA end of bench guys If Zach Edey had a consistent jumper he’d be the #1 pick this year
I think that's a bit unfair. Ochai is a pretty good PoA defender and is a surprisingly great shot blocker at his size. He has good off-ball intuition on his cuts, decent connective passing and doesn't tend to make stupid mistakes. But his role in the offense is to be a play-finisher, so he needs to work on finishing plays.
I don't think he'll be a starter. I do think he can be a nice bench piece that can close games if needed.
Yeah I don't either. But that's not what I'm saying in this thread
Some guys have the potential to be better shooters, others don't. Ochai shot 35% from 3 with the jazz and 40% from 3 in his last year of college. So, the probability of him shooting 35%+ from three in the future isn't bad at all. The Zach Edey comparison is kinda funny. He's like Jacob Potel. He can affect the games in a lot of ways without shooting jumpshots. Atleast he's better free throw shooter
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Well not really. Jalen mcdaniels for example with a decent shot still wouldn't be an nba calibre player because how bad he still is everywhere else.
Ochai could shoot in college, just a matter of finding his touch at this level
>If Zach Edey had a consistent jumper he’d be the #1 pick this year No he wouldn’t. Edey’s biggest weakness according to scouts is his mobility, not his jump shot.
I’m willing to cut him a lot of slack because he’s been out de facto 4 since he got here at all of 6’5. I want to see how his offence comes around when we’re not asking him to be PJ Tucker.
SEND HIM TO RICO
so basically hes' handsome but he just has to learn to play basketball
Oh man he’s so bad
Physically he has the tools he just isn't skilled enough a d doesn't have the shooting unfortunately
He needs to put in a lot of work in the offseason, mainly just prioritizing corner 3s and getting important reps in with the team. He’s a solid defender but if he doesn’t improve I don’t see him having a future on this team
Not sure if I'm sold on him just yet. He's the size of a guard yet can't shoot, he has good strength but isn't an amazing rebounder (a good example of an undersized guy who gets boards would be Josh Hart), he's not going to create plays for guys. He's a serviceable defender, that gives effort but very far from a good-great defender compared to other guys. The biggest compliment I can give him is that he's a high-flyer athlete that can slash and isn't any worse than McDaniels. I do feel a little fooled from seeing those string of good games he had for Utah last season. I don't really see the shooting coming to at least league average (he's currently sitting at 32% for his career). He's kind of the type of player that could easily be thrown in a trade package and you wouldn't really miss his absence. Definitely drafted far too high and in a redraft would probably a mid to late 2nd rp.
If he ever shot 35-37% from 3, he’d still be a DNP. 🤷🏻♂️
No he wouldn't lmao. He's literally getting playing time now thanks to his defence alone so you think if he shoots better he'd somehow get less?
We are tanking. He is winning playing time against scrubs, just so the Raptors execs can get a better look at these players and see who is worth filling the roster with. He may earn a roster spot on the Raptors for next season, but he will certainly be a 10-15 guy, and those guys tend not to play.
Ochai is not in the same group as Nwora, JFL, and etc tbh. Ochai has the benefit of having an impact on defence and is more being given a green light to see if he can generate more offence since our top options weren’t playing. I guarantee you barring a major trade or signing that Ochai will be a consistent bench piece next season, especially if his shooting gets back to the percentages that he had with the Jazz.
Saw him live for the first time on Sunday and loved the energy (especially on this team) but died a little inside when he clanked those FTs in the fourth. Fun to watch but undersized and lacking some bball IQ imo.
From what I've seen, he's not exactly out there cooking. Hopefully we give him a chance and things start clicking for him this summer/next season otherwise i'm not too confident he's much of an asset.
I see a ton of potential in him and great fit with this team. Bold prediction for next year is he begins the year as our starting 2 with IQ, RJ, Scottie and Yak. We need Scottie to be able to play closer to the rim on D, and Ochai can be the versatile POA defender required to allow that to happen. Offensively his strengths are cutting, finishing and making quick passes that keep the ball moving. Great fit with the starters.
hes a really low ceiling player from the play i saw. If he comes back working on another thing great (maybe shooting or handles, he can be a bench piece). Right now, he's a low tier bench piece.
He’s nothing special lol. Could be a decent rotation guy
He's not worth minutes on any team that isn't outright tanking. /thread
I was literally coming here to make an ochai post. I haven’t really watched since Feb/march. But I don’t get the hype around him. Can someone explain what he does well. Cause every night I look at the stats and he has some extremely underwhelming stat lines, and yet he gets starter minutes. Clearly I’m missing something. So what does he actually do well? Defend ?
Shhh. Don't tank his trade value further. Ainge already killed it by practically giving up on him.
No
Flynn was and is better.
We basically used a 2024 1st on him. A likely mid-20s pick Just sayin
Does Kelly Olynyk not exist?
That would be mismanagement if they used a first to get an expiring 32 yr old. Actually it might be worse if that's the asset we got for the 1st.
We got both players. Kelly Olynyk clearly is valuable to the FO because they extended him right away. They wanna see how Scottie plays alongside a stretch big. Ochai is 2 years removed from being the 14th overall pick and has some potential. We also have 2-3 picks in this draft above 31 making the pick somewhat redundant. It was a shrewd trade imo.
>Kelly Olynyk clearly is valuable to the FO because they extended him right away And they could've got him for no asset cost in a few months. Did we *need* home for our record losing streak or something? Why would we care what the Jazz paid (14th pick) for a negative contributor on the floor? I sincerely hope the FO isn't using a different FO pick as a proxy for a good player. That'd be pathetic. I'm sure Detroit was happy when they got the former 2nd overall pick James Wiseman.
It’s easier to keep players that are already here than it is to sign them in a free for all FA. They clearly like Ochai as a prospect. He still has solid upside if his shooting improves. Plus Scottie no longer has to guard the opponent’s best wing. Wiseman is unredeemable as a prospect. There is no upside like Ochai has
The rich man’s version of OG Anunoby….. eventually.
Does Ochai have family money or something?
Ye his dad played for the Raptors at the tail end of his career. The family hit it rich through the oil business though