The 2026-2027 NBA season is almost here, and teams across the league are making cuts to fit within the league’s 15-man roster limit.
However, in some of the notable cuts today (which included Rob Dillingham, Kevin Porter Jr., and Dwight Powell- crazy), a few former Raps have been spotted amongst the guys who will be hitting Indeed and updating their LinkedIn pages.
Ochai Agbaji and Bruce Brown — Waived by the Knicks
Interestingly, two got cut by the same team — although one played for the Raptors more recently than the other.
Agbaji, who last played for the Raptors last season, played 133 total games and averaged 7.7 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 1.2 assists, shooting 46.2% from the field and 33.1% from three. Shifting to his (very limited) time in NY, Agbaji played in three preseason games for the Knicks, averaging 1 point, 1 rebound, and 0.3 assists.
Let’s shift to Bruce Brown. The 6-foot-4 guard played only 52 games with the Raptors in parts of two seasons. With the team, he averaged 9.2 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 0.8 steals while shooting 46.6% from the field and 31.3% from three. Across his three preseason games in the Big Apple, Brown put up 3.7 points, 1.7 rebounds, and 1 assist, while shooting 33.3% from three and 50% from the field.
Honestly, I think both guys can land a spot somewhere. Brown has had two pretty good stints with the Denver Nuggets that could land him another bench opportunity; and the same goes for Agbaji, although I imagine it’ll only be a very limited bench role.
Markquis Nowell — Waived by the Pelicans
Yet another former Rap who played for the team in the 2023-2024 season is on the open market.
Now, Nowell didn’t play much — in fact, he only played one regular-season game with the Raptors, where he recorded 2 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, and a steal. Similarly, he didn’t play in a game in the preseason for the Pelicans, but did log some Summer League games for New Orleans, where he averaged 13.2 points, 2.2 rebounds, 4.6 assists, and 3.0 steals while shooting 36.7% from the field and 37.1% from three.
Honestly, I doubt he gets another NBA role this season, and I imagine he heads back to Europe. He spent last season with Baskonia in Spain’s Liga ACB, and he’d get much more playing time there than he would trying to find a spot on an NBA roster. He could get an offer to play in the G League, which could lead to a call-up, but Europe seems much more likely.
