One swing skill: Jamison Battle and Ochai Agbaji’s spot in the Raptors rotation
The Raptors’ rotation next season should be fascinating. Outside of the presumed starters (which will include RJ Barrett on day 1, as we’ve already hashed out), you can make the case for another seven players who are deserving of minutes on a night-to-night basis.
But it’s unlikely that Darko Rajakovic trots out a 12-man rotation every game, particularly when that same rotation contains some positional duplication. For example, rookie Collin Murray-Boyles and Jonathan Mogbo will likely be battling it out for minutes this season. The same goes for Sandro Mamukelashvili.
But by far the most intriguing positional battle for the Raptors this season will be at the wings. How does Coach Rajakovic sift through the quartet of Gradey Dick, Ja’Kobe Walter, Jamison Battle, and Ochai Agbaji? Who gets prioritized and who ultimately receives the short end of the stick?
Gradey and Ja’Kobe likely have an edge compared to Agbaji and Battle. They both have higher ceilings as prospects, and so it’s natural for the front office and coaching staff to prioritize them.
But that doesn’t mean that either player won’t get a rotation spot. If anything, it just means the Raptors will have to be more creative in the types of lineups they put out. Especially because all four of those players provide an essential skill the Raptors’ star creators need in order to thrive:
Floor spacing.
I tried my hand at projecting the Raptors’ rotation next season, with each of their starters getting 30+ minutes, and it was insanely difficult. There’s no winner here, and it’s tough to predict.
But Agbaji and Battle play important roles because of how they both can shoot the ball.
Battle was one of the best shooters in his rookie class, knocking down 40.5% of his threes on over four attempts a game. As the year progressed, the difficulty of his shots became even more impressive, incorporating shots on the move and expanding his range above the break. This is Battle’s calling card as a player, and it shouldn’t change any time soon.
The biggest question for Battle comes with everything else. How effective is he offensively once teams start running him off the three-point line? Can he develop a driving game? He shot 56% on floaters last season on low volume. What happens when he needs to take more? Can he improve as a finisher at the basket? Can he make reads out of these scenarios?
Defensively, can he work within the Raptors’ aggressive scheme? Can he pressure the ball and be additive, or does he constantly get burned at the point of attack? How much can he improve at maneuvering around ball screens if he’s hunted out?
Ultimately, these are the questions ahead for Battle as he heads into the second year of his career, and I’m not sure if there will be enough minutes, safe from an injury happening, for him to test out everything. But his shooting prowess should, at the very least, put pressure on Gradey and Ja’Kobe to 1) compete defensively and 2) perform and execute offensively, and if on any given night they’re not doing well, they can be yanked for Battle.
Agbaji has a clearer pathway to minutes than Battle. He started in 45 of their 64 games he played last season and had a career year as a shooter, knocking down 39% of his threes on four attempts per game. Like Battle, Agbaji started the season relegated to shooting in the corners and working within the crevices of the offense, but eventually, he began expanding his range, and finished the season shooting 39% on threes above-the-break, ranking in the 75th percentile at his position.
He already has utilities elsewhere on offense, too. He’s a willing screener, understands timing on his cuts, knows how to occupy space, and is a good transition weapon for the Raptors’ offense. He knows how to use his athleticism to burst through the seams of defenses and get to the basket, where he shot 62%, a very good mark for his height and position. He has a good eye for the ball as a rebounder, especially on offense, and knows how to win second-chance opportunities for his team.
Agbaji also brings more defensively than Battle. He was third on the team in steals last season and does well pressuring the ball high up the floor. His quick feet enable him to stick onto faster guards, and his wider frame helps him guard up a few positions. Still, he is just 6-foot-4, and that is always a hindrance to being truly elite on defense, especially at the point-of-attack. He graded out as just an average pick-and-roll ballhandler and isolation defender last season, despite on the surface being one of the best defenders on the team.
All of this makes Agbaji a handy role player for a team that has aspirations of winning. He can slot into any lineup and do what’s asked of him. Like Battle (and perhaps even more), Agbaji will put pressure on the younger Walter and Gradey to perform; if they don’t, there is an obvious replacement waiting for them on the bench (one that is looking to get paid, I might add).
That said, competition is good. It brings out the best in these players, and if you want Gradey or Ja’Kobe to reach their respective ceilings, you have to make them sweat a little.
Even beyond that, the quartet is interchangeable, which should provide some lineup flexibility for a team that, outside of Immanuel Quickley, Mamu, and Ingram, doesn’t have a ton of floor spacing on the roster. I can envision lineups with all three of Gradey, Ja’Kobe, and Ochai roaming the wings as they play off of Ingram, Scottie, and Jakob.
That’s what makes this group so pivotal to the success of this team.
The better Agbaji and Battle perform, the more fluidity the Raptors will have in their rotation.
And that can only be a good thing.
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