Jonathan Mogbo is thriving in the in-between for the Raptors

The Raptors second-round pick is quickly turning heads with his unusual blend of defensive activity and offensive rebounding, thriving on the margins.

From the actor’s point of view, the worst part about the entertainment industry is the amount of waiting you have to do. As someone who has worked as an actor for the last five or so years, it goes unnoticed just how much lingering you do, somewhat impatiently, waiting to be told where to go, what to do, how to say it, when lunch is, etc., etc. I’m making it sound grimmer than it is because I’m a bit of a diva, but for every 12-hour day of filming, you probably spend 1-2 hours doing the thing, and that can be grueling if you’re not prepared for the mind-numbing waiting game.

Some people thrive in it, though—being stuck in the in-between. Armed with laptops, headphones, perhaps a book, rehearsing lines, or conversing with the person next to them, they make due, easing the slow passage of time.

Applying that logic to basketball, some players often have to be in an anticipative state, doing what they can with limited time and opportunity, living on the margins of the court.

In that sense, rookie Jonathan Mogbo thrives in the in-between for the Toronto Raptors, maximizing his moments whenever his name is called.

Unfortunately, the spreading injury bug got the young big man too. The Raptors were already dealing with their fair share of absences — Mogbo became one of them, leaving their Wednesday night game in Sacramento with a right hip pointer injury. While his status is up in the air, his presence will be missed, as the team is already depleted in the frontcourt without Scottie Barnes and Kelly Olynyk. He was thriving in the in-between on the court, and now he’ll be anxiously awaiting his moment to come back as he’s cast to the in-between off the court.

But his ability to play in between on the court and survive those liminal spaces also forecasts a positive ability to wait out the injury. He’ll return; when he does, it’s important to understand what makes Mogbo thrive in this setting.

First, the defense.

Mogbo makes his bread mucking up teams as they flow from action to action. He’s there, using his length to reroute, to deter, quite literally to get in between the offense and its objective. But he plays the waiting game quite well. Anticipation is critical in moments like this. In that sense, Mogbo does most of his work as he’s lying in wait, calculating and foreshadowing his opponent’s steps, like a panther or lion springing to action at the drop of a dime, discovering an opening to pounce on their prey. Or, like the actor, waiting for their number to be called, ready to make the most of the opportunity they have in front of them.

His activity shows up in the numbers, too. Mogbo leads all rookies in deflections. He’s one of four rookies averaging at least one steal a game. He’s in the top 10 in the league in deflections per 36 minutes. And while it’s early, the Raptors allow 22.1 points fewer on defense with Mogbo on the floor — the best mark on the team and one of the best differentials in the entire league. For a team that is as bad as the Raptors on that end (29th on Cleaning The Glass), he has been one of the most consistent positives, a steady hand amidst many rough moments collectively.

Offensively, Mogbo is both figuratively and literally in between.

The team isn’t running any plays for him. But he’s become essential as a connector. He weaves through actions and glues together principles for the Raptors with his screens, dives, rebounds, and short-roll passes, putting him in the middle of it all.

Believe it or not, the actor is a very small part of any production. They’re just there to play a role, to punch in and punch out, and sometimes just to be in the background and fill the gaps. Mogbo does something similar for the Raptors’ offense.

That’s not to minimize his importance (or the actors)—what he makes of his limited time ultimately affects the outcome of any possession.

Offensive rebounding is crucial to this. The Raptors are first in the league in the percentage of their own shots they recollect so far into the season, and Mogbo plays a huge role, nabbing nearly three extra possessions a game for them. He’s sixth in the league for offensive rebounding percentage to start the season, behind giants like Kevon Looney and Zach Edey. This isn’t by being bigger or stronger than everyone. He’s got plenty of bounce, but not even the bounciest forwards make the best rebounders. It’s always those with the best sense of timing. Mogbo waits. As he does on defense, he patiently times his jumps and anticipates where the ball might bounce to.

Elsewhere on offense, Mogbo does the same. While he is primarily spoon-fed his buckets — as he camps in the dunker spot or roams around the paint — his timely cuts and connective passes in the short-roll show a vision of what the future can be with him in a more pronounced offensive role. In transition, his ability to grab a defensive rebound, push the ball up the floor himself, and find an open teammate is something he has been capable of dating back to his four years in college. For that reason, he’s second on the team, only to Barnes, at transition frequency differential (i.e., he helps the team run more).

And all of this, the defense, the offense, the rebounding — it all comes down to waiting in that in-between.

In a league-wide rookie class that lacks in the production category thus far, Mogbo shines as far as impact goes. His big moments pop on the screen; the little ones show promise of what is to come, and even in the areas where he needs to improve (shooting, ballhandling, etc.), he’s shown enough to make you believe there’s more than meets the eye.

He just needs more reps to iron out the nitty-gritty.

And while we’ll have to wait on that for the time being, the day will come when Mogbo will have to play a more pivotal role in a better version of this Raptors team—perhaps sooner rather than later. Possibly, in Darko Rajakovic’s eyes, he’s earned it already.

But how quickly that happens will be determined by how much he continues to thrive in the interim. Waiting, prowling, and staying active until his moment comes is his pathway to more minutes even when the team returns to full health.

And when it does, he’ll be ready.

Like an actor on-call.