Mogbo, Shead and Battle represent greater goal

When the Toronto Raptors made four selections in the 2024 NBA Draft, it wasn’t the route many anticipated. And at the time, there were a couple of ways to view it.

You might’ve seen it as the organization’s attempt at throwing as many darts at the board, hoping at least one would stick close to the bullseye. Or, you possibly viewed it similarly as I did, in that it was a conscious decision by the Raptors to get back to their roots — an identity that built them into one of the premier franchises for nearly a decade.

By selecting Jonathan Mogbo and Jamal Shead in the second round, and then signing undrafted Jamison Battle, I believe Toronto began trying to rebuild that former glory.

After last year’s midseason fire sale — namely trading away OG Anunoby and Pascal Siakam — earned Toronto three picks in the same draft (with more to follow in the future), Raptors president Masai Ujiri didn’t mince words when asked about how invested his team appeared to be in a “flat” rookie class.

“Are we going to take three picks in (this) draft? I strongly doubt it … that’s not the plan for now,” Ujiri told reporters in January.

So, when the organization did a 180° from “the plan” and not only made all three picks but also added a fourth courtesy of a draft-night deal, it seemed surprising, to say the least. It was a series of decisions I believe spoke to a greater objective for the organization and a conviction that went beyond just throwing darts at a board.

At one point, Toronto was the gold standard for developing non-lottery picks and undrafted guys. There was a three-year span in which they acquired Delon Wright, Norman Powell, Fred VanVleet, Siakam and Anunoby. All of whom are still in the NBA, and in one way or another, impacted the 2019 championship run. Simply put, the Raptors rocked around the margins.

While the memories those players to varying degrees gave Toronto still provide real meaning, especially during the 30th anniversary season, none of them are on the roster anymore. And the team’s once Olympic-sized pool of prospects has shrunk into more of a backyard slip-and-slide.

Which is why early development from the current rookies matters as the Raptors embark on a rebuild. Namely, the trio of Mogbo, Shead and Battle since Ja’Kobe Walter hasn’t even logged 10 games due to injury (he was great in his first start, to his credit) and Ulrich Chomche’s path to the NBA is far longer.

And so far, it’s been a promising start for the “triple J” platoon.

All three are in the top 25 amongst rookies in both scoring and minutes — Mogbo ranks seventh in average rebounds, Shead is fourth in assists and Battle is fourth in 3-point makes (and eighth in percentage). A big reason why the trio has been all over rookie leaderboards is because they’ve been thrust into meaningful roles so early while the Raptors have battled a laundry list of injuries. All three sit comfortably in the top 10 for games played amongst NBA freshmen.

An interesting part of their development is how closely it’s mirrored the rebuilding squad as a whole thus far. Toronto has seen plenty of individual strides from its pieces — RJ Barrett has stepped up as an offensive initiator, Gradey Dick is a jump-shooting savant, Ochai Agbaji looks like a premier role player, and Jakob Poeltl is putting up career highs across the board — and still, the Raptors are 20th on offence, 24th on defence, and a bottom-five team in the NBA.

Similarly, as individuals, Mogbo, Shead and Battle have popped. But they aren’t even near the early days of the “bench mob” (yet) like Toronto’s 2016-17 second unit. (2017-18 is really when the bench mob peaked, fifth in the NBA for second-unit scoring.) The rookie trio have shared the court for 55 minutes this season and hold a -5.24 net rating in that span. A chasm-like margin from the +15.52 net rating held by Siakam, Powell and VanVleet coming off the pine together in 16-17.

The Raptors’ current bench, of which Mogbo, Shead and Battle are the nucleus, ranks bottom third across the NBA in net rating (-2.1), points per game (32.7), and field goal percentage (43.8) — all the while committing the fifth most fouls (9.3). Not exactly a group that’s been lighting it up.

Partly because the “triple J” trio simply isn’t at the level Siakam, Powell, and VanVleet were relative to the competition, even as first-year players. And that’s not a knock. There are three All-Star appearances between just Siakam and VanVleet throughout their careers, and if Powell keeps up his play from the start of this season, there may be a fourth. They were, and still are, very good NBA players.

Another part is that, due to injuries, Mogbo, Shead and Battle haven’t been insulated by the kind of talent and experience that the former trio was. Quality veterans like Cory Joseph, Patrick Patterson and P.J. Tucker, among others, helped shepherd the then-youngsters off the bench.

For Mogbo, Shead and Battle, injuries have all but erased any safety measures. Chris Boucher has been the lone consistent vet with the reserves, and his game isn’t exactly catered to raise the floor of those around him. Meanwhile, Davion Mitchell has moved up and down the lineup, Agbaji is in a starting role for now and steady-handed Bruce Brown Jr. and Kelly Olynyk remain sidelined.

The plus side of getting thrown in the deep end, even if the numbers haven’t been all that great, is how many meaningful minutes Mogbo, Shead and Battle have played together. With so many injuries, there haven’t been many options to stagger lineup combinations so coach Darko Rajakovic has had little choice but to use the three rookies collectively.

And less than five full quarters of time as a unit may not seem like a lot, but Siakam, VanVleet and Powell clocked just 80 minutes as a lineup trio in 16-17 through a full season. The “triple J” platoon is over two-thirds of the way there and the Raptors haven’t even played 20 games yet.

So, slowly but surely, what were individual stretches of success — like Shead averaging 4.6 assists through his first five games, Mogbo scoring 11 points in a quarter en route to a career-high night vs. the Pistons and Battle knocking down two or more 3s in six different contests — have started turning into positive moments as a unit thanks to that shared time.

The Raptors’ first road win, pummeling the New Orleans Pelicans, was indicative of that. A notable moment was when Battle knocked down the second of his six triples, part of a career-high 24 points. The ball found him on the play thanks to the effort of his fellow Raptors freshmen as Mogbo corralled an offensive rebound (he ranks fourth in OREBs for rookies) and tossed it out to Shead above the break who pushed it to Battle for three points.

The trio accounted for all but four of Toronto’s 40 bench points in the victory, and that sequence was the peak of their collective power. It was a moment of synergy, each playing to their strengths, that instantly reminded me of the bench mob.

And the similarities didn’t stop there.

“We’re always together and always building each other up, that’s just what this group does” is what Battle said after his season-best performance. “Being a rookie, I don’t feel like a rookie because these guys treat me like any other player. I’m appreciative of them and just appreciative of this coaching staff.”

An interchangeable quote to a rookie VanVleet in 2016 talking about his success after stepping in for an injured Cory Joseph: “Having all these guys who have your back no matter what … it’s been great. I think one through 15, (and) the whole coaching staff has been very supportive embracing me.”

The 2024-25 squad, from top-to-bottom, appears to have that same level of connectivity that VanVleet’s 51-31 Raptors did, albeit with far fewer wins. And with healthy bodies returning soon(ish), chemistry will only get stronger as continuity builds. (I also imagine with fewer minutes to go around at the NBA level when the team is fully healthy, Mogbo, Shead and Battle will spend more time with the Raptors 905, playing as a collective in the G-League.)

So, the second unit may not be at sharing exotic foods with a veteran player levels of camaraderie just yet, but Wednesday’s win showed they’re heading in the right direction. And that’s extremely important. Life for a rebuilding squad gets MUCH easier by winning on the margins and building a pipeline of talent organically.

Especially for the NBA’s lone Canadian team, it remains the most viable path to success.

The Raptors’ decade-long run of excellence wasn’t built on years of cellar dwelling for premium picks, nor was it the outcome of reeling in premium free agents. That’s rarely been the model in Toronto, at least not for a prolonged period. The organization has never opted for a “process” like other franchises, and it never has had (and likely never will) the clout to persuade superstars to cross the border.

In 2018-19, Ujiri and his title-winning staff only pushed their chips all in once they had taken the necessary steps leading to that moment — accumulating assets, increasing their value and selling high at the right time. And over the last couple of post-championship seasons, that process has been exactly what has gotten away from the franchise. Instead, the team has opted for relatively high-risk, low-reward moves, hoping to hold onto a fractured core, which yielded little internal development.

Thankfully, it appears the trips down memory lane in preparation for 30th-anniversary celebrations have reminded the organization what they’ve been about in the past. Toronto is no longer trying to hold onto what’s already gone; now it is trying to rebuild what made it strong in the first place. The pool is being built back to its once reputable size, tile-by-tile, and the Raptors have already started filling it with a promising rookie class.

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