Morning Coffee - Dec. 3, 2024

Mogbo making everything of his opportunity | Toronto's WNBA franchise will announce name soon | Bruce Brown isn't worth what you think he is

The Raptors expected Jonathan Mogbo to be a G League regular this season. The rookie has surprised them - Toronto Star
The chance came, and Mogbo is here.

And of all the pleasant Toronto surprises of the first quarter or so of the NBA regular season, the 23-year-old Florida native is in the conversation of the most pleasant.

He is learning to shoot, he’s a capable and willing defender, he has a nice touch around the basket (he’s not an Immanuel Quickley floater shooter yet but he’s good enough) and his defensive versatility surprises even his coach.

“I’m really … surprised (by) how aggressive he is defensively, how disruptive he can be guarding one through five on the court with his length, with his ability to create deflections and steals,” Darko Rajakovic said Monday.

“He’s giving more on the defensive end than I anticipated … We’re learning about him and what he’s capable of while at the same time we are creating a plan for him (on) what areas that he needs to continue (to work on).”

There is a lot to draw out of the six-foot-nine, 225-pound Mogbo. He’s had a good 21-game stretch, playing a big backup role when he was supposed to be mainly in Mississauga, with the G League Raptors 905, learning how to play.

Injuries thrust him in an NBA role and he has run with it. He will still get some time in the minor leagues when the Raptors get healthy but his learning has been accelerated. And his confidence has grown, as has his teammates’ confidence in him.

“He’s still guarding, still making those strides each and every night, still getting better defensively,” said Scottie Barnes, a pal of Mogbo’s for a decade as they grew up around each other in Florida. “And then he’s taking those three-pointers, corner threes. Teams sag off if they want to sag off … Just being able to attempt those threes and making them at the same time, it’s just going to help his game grow in so many ways.”

If the Raptors hit a home run with Mogbo, the 31st pick in last summer’s draft, the franchise’s future turns brighter.

Raptors rookies Walter, Mogbo, Shead, Battle thriving despite early adversity - Toronto Sun
It’s early days sure, with only about a quarter of this season completed, but the team has to be feeling even better now after seeing No. 19 selection Ja’Kobe Walter start to blossom with a bigger opportunity, No. 31 pick Jonathan Mogbo bringing a varied toolkit every night, No. 45 pick Jamal Shead providing dogged determination, aggressive defence and an ability to get to the basket. Finally, rookie Jamison Battle, who went undrafted but was quickly snapped up by the Raptors on a two-way contract, was expected to spend most of the year in Mississauga with Raptors 905. Instead, he’s only played one G League game so far and 20 NBA contests, shooting 41% on three-point shots in a floor-spacing role.

For a franchise that was rightly hailed for a while as one of the best developmental organizations in the NBA, only to see the pipeline stall in recent years, the emergence of this class as viable NBA players so quickly is a needed win. Financially speaking, when you’re paying mega-money to franchise player Scottie Barnes and starters Immanuel Quickley and RJ Barrett, plus sizeable amounts to other veterans, you need a bunch of productive players on more manageable rookie scale deals to make it all work. And competitively, the more serviceable players (and ideally ones who complement your top talent) you have, the better you’re going to be.

Shead and Battle turned strong training camps and preseason games into longer looks and have had their moments, while Mogbo, asked to do more, has had stops and starts. Sometimes he blends in, but in plenty of games he’s wowed with his rebounding and passing ability (including in the two previous games against the Miami Heat, where Mogbo dominated the boards and also excelled as an outlet when Miami went into a zone).

Though Toronto has been hit with a double whammy of tons of injuries and close losses, spirits have remained high, with little signs of frustration. Rajakovic and his staff have done a strong job in that regard and it’s helped that the rookies have brought positive energy. Mogbo credited the coaches, as well as veterans like Garrett Temple for creating the good vibes.

“I feel like everyone takes care of each other here,” Mogbo told Postmedia after Sunday’s home win over Miami. Whether it’s the rookies supporting their peers, the coaches helping them get better, or the veterans getting in their ears, it’s all made the adjustment to the NBA a lot easier.

Barrett and Raptors share similarly strange home-road splits - TSN
To say that Barrett is comfortable at Scotiabank Arena – where the Toronto native grew up attending games with his father, Rowan – would be an understatement. In seven home games this season, the 24-year-old is averaging 30.4 points, third-most in the league. The 11-point difference between that and his average on the road is the largest in the league.

Granted, most players perform better at home, where they benefit from familiar surroundings, more rest and, often, a better diet. They can sleep in their own beds and avoid dealing with the general inconvenience of travel, time zone changes, hotels and disruptions to their strict routines. By nature, we’re all creatures of habit and professional athletes are no different. They might be even more rigid. Then, there’s another layer of comfort for a player that is actually from the city they play in.

Still, a disparity this significant is hard to explain. It’s not that Barrett has been bad on the road. His 19.4-point average in 11 games is on par with his career scoring mark. And as he pointed out when asked about his strange home-road splits on Sunday, he’s had some strong performances in other buildings as well, including his first triple-double in Boston last month. It’s that he’s been remarkably good at home. All-Star, bordering on superstar, level basketball. He’s exceeded 30 points in five of his seven home games. Over the past three home contests, he’s averaging 35.7 points on an absurd 69 per cent shooting (including 53 per cent from three-point range). Not coincidentally, the Raptors have won all three games.

Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton has the league’s second-largest home-road scoring differential, averaging 22.7 points in Indiana and 11.9 points everywhere else. He was held to 16 points on 5-of-18 shooting when his team was in Toronto last month, and they visit again on Tuesday. Some have speculated that the star’s nagging back issue flares up when he sleeps in hotel beds – even five-star hotel beds – as opposed to his own.

It's an interesting, if not outlandish, theory but probably not one that applies here. As far as we know, there’s no medical explanation for Barrett’s splits.

WNBA Expansion surges forward with 2025 schedule and draft news - Raptors HQ
The WNBA Toronto expansion franchise was announced in May of 2024, and since then we have been waiting for updates. Immediately it was released that the team will play at Coca-Cola Coliseum, and Teresa Resch will serve as President. Since then, more executives have been announced, and the franchise launched a naming and design campaign. They’ve been slowly announcing which names have NOT been selected, and the official name announcement is expected in the new year.

After the Valkyries announced their name earlier this year, which is a nod to the female Norse Warriors and a tie to their brother-franchise the Golden State Warriors, they announced their General Manager. From there, a head coaching search began, eventually landing on former Las Vegas Aces Associate Head Coach Natalie Nakase. Now, the Valkyries prepare for their expansion draft on Friday December 6th.

They will select from a pool of WNBA players from other teams. Each of the 12 other teams were able to protect six of their players, and Golden State will be able to draft any of the remaining players to their roster. They will also be able to core one free agent from the pool, before heading into regular WNBA free agency in the new year.

As Toronto fans look on to this process, a reminder that it will look a little different as we go through it next year. While Golden State is the only new team entering the league this upcoming season, Toronto is sharing their debut with Portland, so there will be two teams holding expansion drafts next year.

The Rap-Up: Canada basketball takes centre stage this week - Raptors HQ
The round-robin portion of the NBA Cup wraps up with a pair of teams on the opposite ends of the “expectations” spectrum.

In last season’s inaugural version of the In-Season Tournament, the Indiana Pacers swept through the round-robin games with an average margin of victory of 9.75 points. They would carry that momentum through the knockout stage with a 10-point win over the Boston Celtics, followed by a 9-point win over the Milwaukee Bucks. Only a legacy-driven, LeBron James and his Los Angeles Lakers kept the Pacers from making NBA history as the first in-season champion.

This year, the Pacers are winless heading into the final round-robin game and have the worst point differential in the league. Has anyone told them this does not count towards the Cooper Flagg draft?

Fun fact that may only interest me

Ben Mathurin remains one of the lone bright spots for Indiana this season. He’s averaging 18.5 points on 49/43/84 shooting. Only 3 other players currently reach those statistical benchmarks: Karl-Anthony Towns, Kyrie Irving, and Darius Garland.

That’s 13 combined All-Stars. Possibly 16 by February.

Or 17???

Prediction

The Pacers are down two rotation players, as neither Ben Sheppard nor Aaron Nesmith are near returning from their injuries. Indiana has also lost both backup Centers, Isaiah Jackson and James Wiseman to season-ending injuries.

The Pacers’ defense has fallen off a cliff, giving up at least 129 in each of the last 5 losses, including a 136-121 defeat to the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday and 130-119 loss to these Raptors two weeks ago. With Gradey Dick nearing a return, and Bruce Brown not far behind, the Raptors are in better shape to grab the lone victory in NBA Cup group play. Toronto covers the +2.5 spread.

Raptors Mailbag: Agbaji's Development, Point Guard Play, Tanking, & More - Sports Illustrated
Do you think the Jazz didn’t use Ochai right or did the Raptors just make him better? - @aidanschonewille

I wasn't exactly tuning into Jazz games to see how they utilized Ochai Agbaji early last season. From what I saw in Toronto last year, he seemed very limited offensively, and his Summer League showing didn't exactly inspire confidence. Whoops.

It turns out Agbaji has more potential than I — and the Jazz — realized. He’s shooting 47.1% from three-point range and is proving to be a valuable 3-and-D role player. I’d say that’s a combination of credit to the Raptors' development staff and Agbaji's own hustle to work on improving his game over the offseason. Players don't normally get enough credit for their own development, so kudos to Agbaji for getting so much better this year.

Top NBA trade candidates for the 2024-25 season - Hoops Hype
The Toronto Raptors have dealt with several injuries early in the season that have played a role in their placement toward the bottom of the Eastern Conference, including the prolonged absences of Scottie Barnes, Immanuel Quickley, and Kelly Olynyk.

Despite the slow start, RJ Barrett has grown as a playmaker, Gradey Dick has taken a scoring leap in his second season, Jakob Poeltl is playing the best basketball of his career, averaging 16 points and 12 rebounds, and Chris Boucher has bounced back this season with the Raptors.

The Raptors could choose to sell high on Poeltl to teams looking for a center and trend further towards a complete rebuild or look to move Boucher, a 31-year-old, who’s in the final year of his contract for team’s searching for frontcourt depth, but either scenario remains to be seen.

One prevalent belief throughout the league is that Toronto will look to trade Bruce Brown, who’s on an expiring $23 million deal. Last year, Toronto declined offers of multiple second-round picks for Brown, league sources told HoopsHype. This season, Brown has yet to play after having an arthroscopic surgical procedure on his right knee.