With the 31st pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, the Toronto Raptors selected Jonathan Mogbo, a 6’9 forward-center out of the University of San Francisco. And unless you were following the Raptors last season, this may well have been the most recent time you heard that name.
It shouldn’t be, though. In an understated way, Mogbo showed intriguing flashes of playmaking forward ability in his rookie season that paired with his defensive potential to reveal the outlines of a potential impactful – and unique – modern two-way big man. And if the Raptors are unable or unwilling to stop themselves from blocking his path to big minutes, he may soon represent an excellent buy-low pick-up on the NBA’s trade market.
Two-Way Play And Advanced Passing Skill
In his rookie season, Mogbo posted averages of 6.2 points, 4.9 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 0.9 steals in 20.4 minutes per game across 63 contests. However, he shot only 43.8% from the field, a particularly low mark for a 6’9 player, and did so while shooting a poor 24.3% from three-point range, demonstrating the offensive clunkiness and need for future skills development that he was known to be entering the NBA with.
Going the other way, though, there was a lot to like. Mogbo’s upside in the draft came from his defensive potential, where his long arms, good feet and strong instincts make him able to step up to the perimeter on the defensive end, while also holding his own on the interior. The early results, especially for one so short of high-level experience, were encouraging.
Mogbo’s season unmistakably peaked when he posted a triple-double in the Raptors’ third-last game of the season. In a 30-point victory over the hapless Charlotte Hornets, he posted 17 points, 11 assists and 1o rebounds in 37 minutes – and had Mogbo not missed the points part of the threshold by one, he would have had another triple-double in the Raptors’ season finale, too.
For context, the list of players to have recorded only one triple-double in their NBA career includes Allen Iverson, Patrick Ewing, Derrick Rose, Damian Lillard, Reggie Miller and Dennis Rodman. Players to never even have posted one include Kevin McHale, Dominique Wilkins, John Stockton, George Gervin and Bob McAdoo. Some of the all-time greats of the game can be found in that list, and yet there they are, trailing in the wake of future great, Jonathan Mogbo.
Notwithstanding the obvious hyperbole of that paragraph, and the important yet unmentioned context of the tremendous evolution of the NBA over the decades, the triple-double performance does serve to highlight Mogbo’s versatility. He has a disjointed scoring profile at this time, with no area of the court to call his own and a sub-par jump shot. But he makes plays, joins things up, and creates offence within the team concept – all while doing his best work on the defensive end.
Mogbo’s Path To Minutes
What will be an obstacle for Mogbo next season is the fact that Toronto’s top pick in the 2025 Draft, Collin Murray-Boyles, does largely the same things in largely the same areas of the court. But the Canadian rookie will do so with higher billing, greater upside and far greater contract security. The Raptors are furthermore committed to Jakob Poeltl at the center spot, to the tune of $104 million, and have face-of-the-franchise Scottie Barnes as the point-power-guard-forward-whatever nominally starting at the four spot, while offseason pick-up Sandro Mamukelashvili is also in for Chris Boucher.
The Raptors will be expecting to have gotten deeper in the frontcourt, at a time that Mogbo would have been hoping they would get shallower. Perhaps, though, this will lead to Mogbo being a sneaky-good pick-up in trade for another team.
If Mogbo is unable to get extended run next season, his stock will not rise as sharply, and in being a non-floor spacing slightly undersized four-five hybrid lacking a true position at the NBA level, the eye test is not immediately flattering either. But anyone peering underneath the hood of the basic per-game numbers will see a high-IQ passer and versatile player with hustle, motor, athleticism, length, defensive discipline, offensive rebounding prowess and defensive potential.
Mogbo could go the way of Jaylin Williams, or he could go the way of Kevon Looney. Either way, regardless of what happens with Collin Murray-Boyles, Mogbo is one worth following. After all, he has already gone one better than Dominique Wilkins ever did.
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