{"id":589377,"date":"2026-02-08T00:26:20","date_gmt":"2026-02-08T00:26:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/589377\/"},"modified":"2026-02-08T00:26:20","modified_gmt":"2026-02-08T00:26:20","slug":"agbaji-minott-welcomed-as-nets-snap-skid-against-shorthanded-wizards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/589377\/","title":{"rendered":"Agbaji, Minott welcomed as Nets snap skid against shorthanded Wizards"},"content":{"rendered":"

With the trade deadline behind them, the Nets<\/a> introduced Ochai Agbaji<\/a> and Josh Minott on Saturday afternoon at Barclays Center and beat the Washington Wizards 127-113, improving to 14-37 while snapping a three-game skid. The turnover that made their arrivals possible was still fresh.<\/p>\n

Cam Thomas, Haywood Highsmith and Tyrese Martin were waived to open the door. Hunter Tyson, briefly part of the picture after a deal with the Denver Nuggets, was gone soon after he arrived. Before tipoff, Agbaji and Minott met the media, offering an early glimpse of two wings Brooklyn believes align with where it wants to go.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know they\u2019re very good players, that\u2019s why they\u2019re here,\u201d head coach Jordi Fern\u00e1ndez said. \u201cThey\u2019re good people and good players, so they fit what we\u2019re trying to build. For me, it\u2019s about getting to know them and giving them the opportunity without putting limitations on who I think they are. Show me what you can bring to the group, and if you can be part of this group, you can be a future Net.\u201d<\/p>\n

Opportunity is one thing. Identity is another. Both newcomers arrived with a clear sense of what they believe travels from team to team, and for Agbaji, it starts on the defensive end. The 25-year-old appeared in 42 games for the Toronto Raptors this season, averaging 4.3 points and 2.3 rebounds. After shooting 39.9% from 3-point range last year, he entered the afternoon at 18.5% this season on 65 attempts.<\/p>\n

Fern\u00e1ndez believes Agbaji can return to being the outside threat he once was.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe conversations have been good, brief,\u201d Agbaji said. \u201cThere\u2019s been a lot going on, but [Jordi] told me he wants me here, that he sees a lot more in me and what I can bring to this team. For me it\u2019s about getting back to myself and who I know I can be. That\u2019s super important in this league and it\u2019s what I work for and what I\u2019m trying to show again.\u201d<\/p>\n

And there\u2019s at least one built-in comfort for Agbaji. He\u2019s reunited with Jalen Wilson, a former college teammate from Kansas\u2019 national championship run, and said being back in a locker room with him makes Brooklyn \u201cfeel even more like home.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe played three years together and went through ups and downs, and we ended my career there winning a national championship, which was great,\u201d Agbaji said. \u201cI actually knew him before he came to Kansas. I hosted him on his recruiting visit. I\u2019ve known him a long time and seen him grow. Ending up teammates with him again is great.<\/p>\n

Minott\u2019s journey was different, but the foundation sounds familiar. Originally drafted in 2022, he comes over from the Boston Celtics after appearing in 33 games and averaging 5.8 points and 3.6 rebounds. The opportunities he carved out there, he said, were rooted in \u201chunger\u201d and \u201cdesperation,\u201d traits he believes translate no matter the jersey.<\/p>\n

The 23-year-old said the defensive identity in Brooklyn already mirrors what he values, with an emphasis on pressure and disruption. He added that his shooting has progressed to the point where he trusts it as a real strength and believes in taking the right, open looks when they\u2019re there. What he sees in the Nets is a young group wired to play that way. And the reset, in his mind, doesn\u2019t change his personal standard.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me it\u2019s about staying true to the values I\u2019ve learned over my three and a half years in the league, especially the work ethic,\u201d Minott said. \u201cI\u2019ve been around some winning organizations. Understanding what we did right and what it takes to make those playoff pushes, it\u2019s about bringing that over.\u201d<\/p>\n

Defense is the entry point for Agbaji and Minott. It\u2019s what stands out on both r\u00e9sum\u00e9s and what Brooklyn keeps insisting it wants to be about. For Fern\u00e1ndez, that shows up immediately in how you defend at the point of attack.<\/p>\n

\u201cBall pressure is our first staple,\u201d Fern\u00e1ndez said. \u201cEvery time you can apply ball pressure, full court or half court, you can create turnovers and deflections and make the other team uncomfortable and late in the clock. We believe those guys can do that and I\u2019m excited to watch them play.\u201d<\/p>\n

Agbaji and Minott, still learning the system, didn\u2019t play against the Wizards, but the Nets didn\u2019t need much depth in a matchup between two teams expected to slide down the stretch in pursuit of draft position. Brooklyn entered the afternoon with a clean injury report, but Washington had just eight available players and a lengthy list of absences that included Kyshawn George, Alex Sarr, Bilal Coulibaly, Cam Whitmore and Tre Johnson.<\/p>\n

The Nets\u2019 46 points in the first quarter were their most in any period this season and their highest-scoring quarter since 2003. Brooklyn\u2019s 80 points in the first half were also a season high and their most in a half since 2022, and they led by as many as 34. While the Wizards won the second half 66-47 and trimmed the deficit to 12 with 2:10 left, Brooklyn had done enough early to hold on for the win.<\/p>\n

Michael Porter Jr.<\/a> led seven Brooklyn players in double figures with 23 points, while Will Riley fueled Washington\u2019s comeback attempt with 27.<\/p>\n

The Nets return to action Monday when they host the Chicago Bulls.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With the trade deadline behind them, the Nets introduced Ochai Agbaji and Josh Minott on Saturday afternoon at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":589378,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3767],"tags":[7,670,247,3803,562,6,671,10513],"class_list":{"0":"post-589377","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-brooklyn-nets","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-brooklyn","10":"tag-brooklyn-nets","11":"tag-brooklynnets","12":"tag-michael-porter-jr","13":"tag-nba","14":"tag-nets","15":"tag-ochai-agbaji"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116032175163683713","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/589377","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=589377"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/589377\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/589378"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=589377"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=589377"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=589377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}