After scoring 17 points against the Thunder last night, Jazz’s Ochai Agbaji feels this next NBA season will be his breakthrough

Ever since the Jazz were eliminated from the 2022/23 NBA season, sophomore Ochai Agbaji took a couple of weeks off to rest and reflect on his future. When he returned back to Utah, he hasn’t stopped working, and demonstrated this with last night’s 17-point performance against the Oklahoma City Thunder in Salt Lake City’s Summer League.

There’s always been a lot of excitement surrounding the young player, even when he was first part of the trade that sent Donovan Mitchell to Cleveland. Although he mostly spent his first campaign in the league dealing with G League tasks and minutes on the bench, by the end of regular season he’d earned himself a place in Utah’s regular rotation.

And now starting with this Summer League edition, he’s out to prove himself.

Ochai Agbaji tonight

17 points
9 rebounds
7/19 FG
3/8 3P

How do you think Ochai played tonight? pic.twitter.com/cP2TJcHGLW

— Jazz Lead (@JazzLead) July 4, 2023

When asked whether he felt he made a difference for the Jazz in the final matches of last season, he was convinced he was bringing a lot to the table.

“Definitely,” he said. “Stepping into the second year role that I’m in, and the confidence that I’m bringing from last year, and those last like 25 games that I played, it’s just kind of like stepping into a new role.”

If he was to play more minutes for the NBA franchise, head coach Will Hardy told him he should dedicate his offseason to work on his cardio, and this way be able to endure longer stages on the basketball court.

“The biggest thing was my conditioning,” Agbaji revealed. “Just being able to stay out there and be productive late in the game, on back-to-backs and after a long weekend and stuff like that. Just to stay on top of that and just making sure I’m in the best shape possible because he wants me out there as long as possible.”

“I feel like every single day when I’m going to practice I have something to prove, not so much to everyone else, but to myself,” he said. “I’m just trying to get better and better myself as a player every single day.”

Both his teammates and coach staff are already noticing he’s improved his condition and is expected for a greater role in the squad

Hard work never goes unnoticed, as the Jazz team and staff have witnessed Agbaji’s commitment this offseason.

“Crazy cardio, crazy. His body is just incredible,” teammate Luka Samanic said of him. “And the game is slowing down for him, for sure. I think he’s just gonna get better and better.”

Take a look at some of his best highlights from the last NBA campaign in Utah:

Already in last night’s Summer League contest, the rising star seems ahead of his other teammates. Even though the match ended in a 95-85 defeat against the Thunder, he recorded 17 points, 9 rebounds, an assist and one block in 30 minutes of play, looking strong and comfortable on the floor.

“Especially for probably not playing a whole lot of five-on-five, to come in and for him to play 30 minutes,” coach assistant Evan Bradds said. “Incredible shape. Obviously he came into last year in pretty good shape and it just got better. Then for him to be able to come out and get a lot of plays run for him and do a lot of stuff, it’s pretty impressive.”