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Grading Nets’ Ochai Agbaji trade with Raptors
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The Brooklyn Nets agreed to their first trade of the 2025-26 season on Wednesday, acquiring Ochai Agbaji and a 2032 second-round pick in a three-team deal involving the Toronto Raptors and Los Angeles Clippers. Brooklyn absorbed Agbaji's $6.4 million expiring contract in return for the Raptors' 2032 second-rounder and $3.5 million in cash.
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Toronto received Chris Paul, who is expected to be waived, while Los Angeles got the rights to Vanja Marinkovic.
With that, we access the deal for the Nets and offer a grade.
Nets trade grade for deal acquiring Ochai Agbaji, 2032 second-round pick
John Jones-Imagn Images
Brooklyn continues to leverage its NBA-leading cache of cap space to acquire draft assets. Wednesday's deal marks the fourth salary dump trade general manager Sean Marks has executed since the end of last season.
The Nets absorbed Terance Mann's three-year, $47 million contract from the Hawks in return for the No. 22 pick in June's draft, which they used to select Drake Powell. They then dealt Cam Johnson in return for Michael Porter Jr. and an unprotected 2032 Nuggets first-round pick. Brooklyn also took on Haywood Highsmith's $5,6 million expiring contract and received an unprotected 2032 Miami Heat second-round pick.
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After picking up the Raptors' 2032 second-round pick, the Nets own an NBA-best 21 second-rounders and 12 first-rounders over the next seven years.
Meanwhile, Agbaji could be another reclamation project for Brooklyn's player development staff. The former lottery pick is having the worst three-point shooting season of his career, converting 12-of-65 (18.5 percent) attempts across 42 appearances. He's been in and out of Toronto's rotation amid his struggles.
However, Agbaji averaged 10.4 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.5 assists on 50/40/71 shooting splits in 2024-25. At 6-foot-5 with a 6-foot-10 wingspan and above-average athleticism, the 25-year-old is an intriguing no-risk flier. Should he show promise during the second half of this season, the Nets could bring him back on a low-cost contract in 2026-27.
The Nets can take Agbaji into their $15.3 million in cap space. They could also use their cap space in other salary-dump moves, then absorb the Raptors guard into the $8.8 million room mid-level exception.
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Nets' Grade: A-
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Related: Nets' Michael Porter Jr. gets brutally honest on All-Star snub amid career season
