The Toronto Raptors' roster is loaded with talented players who were once first-round picks.
Not all top picks pan out, though.
Ochai Agbaji is an example of that. He began his NBA career with the Cleveland Cavaliers and has never found his full footing in the league.
He won't command a ton in a trade, but the Raptors could find it worthwhile to move him before the deadline in February.
That's because moving Agbaji would escape the luxury tax portion of the salary cap.
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ESPN's Bobby Marks made the case for this move in a new article on Thursday.
"Agbaji will be a free agent in July after failing to reach an extension in October," Marks writes. "After averaging a career-high 27.2 minutes last season and starting 45 games, Agbaji has seen his minutes and role decrease. He is on pace to average the fewest minutes (15.5) and points (4.3) in his career. Agbaji did have a 10-game stretch in December of averaging at least 20 minutes, however. Toronto is $967,000 above the luxury tax and could get under it by offloading his $4.1 million expiring contract."
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Agbaji is an ideal depth piece, in some ways, because he does a lot of things at a decent level and has positional versatility at the defensive end.
But he's also not the high-end talent that his pedigree might suggest, and he isn't crucial enough to the Raptors to rule out the idea of moving him.
If someone will take Agbaji off their hands and allow them to get below the tax line, there are positive long-term cap implications for such a move for the Raptors, which makes it quite worth considering.
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