Mogbo as a long-term solution at Center

[tsherkin]

He was super efficient in the paint in college, but the NBA ain't the west coast conference, so he's going to have to develop ways to score it.

Sure, but given his career path, his numbers prior to his last season don't really matter much, right? And even there, he didn't even take 10 shots per game. And he wasn't at St. Mary's or Gonzaga.

But anyway as you say, he's gonna need to develop SOMEthing. We'll have to see. Another little storyline for 25-26 to keep an eye on, for sure.

[Anticon]

After seeing him play last year if you had to select what the one main reason we selected him was, what would it be?

I don't think he's a bad player, but it was a bad pick.

Do you think part of the calculation was more off court locker room relations?

Certainly seems a factor. I'll never quite get why he was picked ahead of Shead, and certainly Filipowski (even just to trade).

I don't have him penciled in as a credible member of the rotation, unlike guys drafted above him.

[theonlyeastcoastrapsfan]

I don't think he's a bad player, but it was a bad pick.

Do you think part of the calculation was more off court locker room relations?

Certainly seems a factor. I'll never quite get why he was picked ahead of Shead, and certainly Filipowski (even just to trade).

I don't have him penciled in as a credible member of the rotation, unlike guys drafted above him.

I been struggling with that.

[PushDaRock]

After seeing him play last year if you had to select what the one main reason we selected him was, what would it be?

I don't think he's a bad player, but it was a bad pick.

Do you think part of the calculation was more off court locker room relations?

lol this played zero factor into the decision. He went exactly where he was projected to go in the draft (late first/early second) and he fits the mold that this front office has gravitated towards in the past.

[OakleyDokely]

Do you think part of the calculation was more off court locker room relations?

Certainly seems a factor. I'll never quite get why he was picked ahead of Shead, and certainly Filipowski (even just to trade).

I don't have him penciled in as a credible member of the rotation, unlike guys drafted above him.

I been struggling with that.

Mogbo is a non shooter with a 7+ wingspan.
Shead is a non shooter barely over 6ft.

Size plays a big factor. Mogbo can theoretically fix his shot, Shead can't grow to Mogbo's size.

[Anticon]

Certainly seems a factor. I'll never quite get why he was picked ahead of Shead, and certainly Filipowski (even just to trade).

I don't have him penciled in as a credible member of the rotation, unlike guys drafted above him.

I been struggling with that.

Mogbo is a non shooter with a 7+ wingspan.
Shead is a non shooter barely over 6ft.

Size plays a big factor. Mogbo can theoretically fix his shot, Shead can't grow to Mogbo's size.

The team that enabled FVV would hopefully not be driven by this logic.

[OakleyDokely]

I been struggling with that.

Mogbo is a non shooter with a 7+ wingspan.
Shead is a non shooter barely over 6ft.

Size plays a big factor. Mogbo can theoretically fix his shot, Shead can't grow to Mogbo's size.

The team that enabled FVV would hopefully not be driven by this logic.

FVV shot around 40% from 3 in college though. Shead was a 30% shooter. Shead with VV's shot is a 1st round pick.

[ontnut]

Step 1: Can he be a short-term solution at center off the bench?
.
.
.
Step 6: Can he be a long-term solution at center.
Gotta start at step 1.

[PushDaRock]

Yup, and there will be times he's unplayable because you're behind and you need offense. He's going to have to show that the team can run a functional offense with him out there.

Yeah, he's got to learn how to hit layups and such. I won't give him too much grief about shooting range, but you can't be 6% below league average in the RA as a roleplayer who gets nothing but spoon-fed shots there. It's troublesome. That he is also useless outside of 3 feet only exacerbates the problem. But the summer is upon us, so we shall see. All of our rooks have flaws, that's why they were available where we acquired them, I suppose. Time to see what they can do and if they can grow.

He was super efficient in the paint in college, but the NBA ain't the west coast conference, so he's going to have to develop ways to score it.

His finishing was much worse than I could have imagined it would be, but there's also nowhere to go but up. It really can't get any worse at this point. There's some concern but I am willing to write off the first year as adjusting to the league. If there's no progress in year 2 and definitely by year 3, then we will probably have to accept it's a limitation going forward and he will probably need to be an All-NBA level defender to stick around in the league.

[kalel123]

NO. Not even super high on him sticking around long-term in any capacity.

Better quesiton to ponder: We traded the pick that would become Isaiah Collier and passed on Filipkowski to pick Mogbo. Did we get the worst of the 3? That's very possible.

Collier and Filipowski both are pretty underwhelming as well.

Mogbo has the highest ceiling of the 3 IMO, but maybe the highest bust potential.

I'll give you that it's too early to pencil them into anything despite the fact that Mogbo is the oldest of the 3 by at least 2 years and has not looked like he has any skills offensively to uncover unlike, for example, someone like Siakam. (Not saying there's any comparability, just saying it's a lot closer to "what you see is what you get" rather than him surprising anybody like Siakam did) But based on the rookie year, both Collier and Filipkowski have shown they can be solid rotation players and maybe more. Can't say the same for Mogbo yet. He's shown flashes and it's not like he hasn't had chances with this team's roster situation being what it was.

[tsherkin]

Yeah, he's got to learn how to hit layups and such. I won't give him too much grief about shooting range, but you can't be 6% below league average in the RA as a roleplayer who gets nothing but spoon-fed shots there. It's troublesome. That he is also useless outside of 3 feet only exacerbates the problem. But the summer is upon us, so we shall see. All of our rooks have flaws, that's why they were available where we acquired them, I suppose. Time to see what they can do and if they can grow.

He was super efficient in the paint in college, but the NBA ain't the west coast conference, so he's going to have to develop ways to score it.

His finishing was much worse than I could have imagined it would be, but there's also nowhere to go but up. It really can't get any worse at this point. There's some concern but I am willing to write off the first year as adjusting to the league. If there's no progress in year 2 and definitely by year 3, then we will probably have to accept it's a limitation going forward and he will probably need to be an All-NBA level defender to stick around in the league.

Yeah, I mean, why not give him a season to see if he can suck a little less, right?

[YogurtProducer]

NO. Not even super high on him sticking around long-term in any capacity.

Better quesiton to ponder: We traded the pick that would become Isaiah Collier and passed on Filipkowski to pick Mogbo. Did we get the worst of the 3? That's very possible.

Collier and Filipowski both are pretty underwhelming as well.

Mogbo has the highest ceiling of the 3 IMO, but maybe the highest bust potential.

I'll give you that it's too early to pencil them into anything despite the fact that Mogbo is the oldest of the 3 and has not looked like he has any skills offensively to uncover unlike, for example, someone like Siakam. But based on the rookie year, both Collier and Filipkowski have shown they can be solid rotation players and maybe more. Can't say the same for Mogbo yet. He's shown flashes and it's not like he hasn't had chances with this team's roster situation being what it was.

Collier has not shown ****. He put up 9ppg and 6apg in 26mpg on 49TS%. That is horrible. He was 2nd last in the league in efficiency.

Filipowski was better - but his ceiling is what? Kelly Olynyk? Sure, they got a bench piece there but nothing more.


Mogbo is a legit all-league talent defensively. You can squint and if he improves the 3 ball you are looking at a 3+D PF/C which is incredibly valuable in this league. Oh, and he is a really good playmaker for a big, and averaged 11/10/7 with 2spg and 1bpg in his 5 starts to close the year.

In a redraft I am still taking Mogbo 100/100 times. There is just way to much potential there as a defender and playmaker.

I have WAY more faith in Mogbo developing a shot than I do Filipowski learning how to defend, or Collier developing multiple skills.

[YogurtProducer]

Mogbo is a non shooter with a 7+ wingspan.
Shead is a non shooter barely over 6ft.

Size plays a big factor. Mogbo can theoretically fix his shot, Shead can't grow to Mogbo's size.

The team that enabled FVV would hopefully not be driven by this logic.

FVV shot around 40% from 3 in college though. Shead was a 30% shooter. Shead with VV's shot is a 1st round pick.

Shead with VV"s shot is just FVV lol

[OakleyDokely]

The team that enabled FVV would hopefully not be driven by this logic.

FVV shot around 40% from 3 in college though. Shead was a 30% shooter. Shead with VV's shot is a 1st round pick.

Shead with VV"s shot is just FVV lol

[MonkBatter42]

lol omg no. I don't think some ppl realize just how horrendous he is offensively. Like he doesn't know how to get from point a to b to score the ball and has some of the worst finishing ability i've ever born witness to in the NBA.

[MonkBatter42]

The team that enabled FVV would hopefully not be driven by this logic.

FVV shot around 40% from 3 in college though. Shead was a 30% shooter. Shead with VV's shot is a 1st round pick.

Shead with VV"s shot is just FVV lol

Exactly

[WiggOuts]

Somebody please bookmark this thread so we can share just how much hate this board has for another great prospect of ours. As of the Raptors havent proven it time and time again.

I'm sorry but this is a stupid post, this is hate because people are being realistic? I'm sure everyone would be happy if he succeeded. This is not hate, you're just mislabelling it

[OhCanada]

Somebody please bookmark this thread so we can share just how much hate this board has for another great prospect of ours. As of the Raptors havent proven it time and time again.

I'm sorry but this is a stupid post, this is hate because people are being realistic? I'm sure everyone would be happy if he succeeded. This is not hate, you're just mislabelling it

You were probably saying the same thing about Fred after his rookie season werent you. That was probably logical too. He's too small. Not athletic enough. What were you saying about Pascal after his rookie season? Do you remember?

[tsherkin]

Somebody please bookmark this thread so we can share just how much hate this board has for another great prospect of ours. As of the Raptors havent proven it time and time again.

Skepticism isn't hate.

Dude can defend, that is clear. Not a great rebounder, but a pretty good passer and defender, for sure. And he isn't the worst at the line, either, he shot like 73%. But he has shown no touch away from the rim, and weak touch in close, both of which are concerns for his overall utility/ceiling.

So the notion that he needs to prove that he's a solid option in the short-term before being anointed as a long-term solution isn't unreasonable in any way, shape or form, nor does it constitute "hating."

[RaptorLakerJay]

Somebody please bookmark this thread so we can share just how much hate this board has for another great prospect of ours. As of the Raptors havent proven it time and time again.

Skepticism isn't hate.

Dude can defend, that is clear. Not a great rebounder, but a pretty good passer and defender, for sure. And he isn't the worst at the line, either, he shot like 73%. But he has shown no touch away from the rim, and weak touch in close, both of which are concerns for his overall utility/ceiling.

So the notion that he needs to prove that he's a solid option in the short-term before being anointed as a long-term solution isn't unreasonable in any way, shape or form, nor does it constitute "hating."

I totally understand the skepticism and I actually agree with what a lot has been said. The whole point was to hear the different opinions given that Jak could be dealt, and what I posted is strictly based off potential. You all make fair assessments while having valid concerns, but we'll see whether he develops a lot this off-season to make a big jump next year.