Return of the Bench Mob

One of these days I will write a Raptors game reaction piece. I thought about doing one for the Nuggets game today, but it's so far away and out of my memory now so I figured I'd just take a big picture look at the team so far. Before I get into that, just quickly on the Nuggets game, how many times have you seen a game like that before? A young, scrappy team out-hustles the older veteran team all game only for the veteran team to slow it down and execute better in the last 5 minutes to steal the victory. The Nuggets have a 3x MVP on their side it's no accident that they're better down the stretch, good learning moment for the young Raptors. Anyway, lots to talk about! This team is young, fun and competitive even with all the early injuries. 

New Bench Mob

In the glory days of Raptors basketball the Raptors would churn out these productive bench players that seemingly came out of nowhere. Guys like Norman Powell, Fred VanVleet, Pascal Siakam, Delon Wright, Greivis Vasquez, I could go on and on. In 2019 the Raptors depleted a lot of this depth to go all in and win a championship, worth it. As a result though, the team has been severely lacking in bench talent over the last 4 seasons. This year it's already starting to look like a different story. Even with the Raptors missing key rotation players in Quickley, RJ Barrett, Bruce Brown, Kelly Olynyk and first round pick Ja'Kobe Walter, the Raptors are still getting some solid production from their bench. 

I have talked pretty much non-stop about Jamal Shead since I first saw him play, and in real NBA games he's been nothing short of awesome. Always seeming to be in the right place to blow plays up on defense, Shead also brings energy and hard-headedness to offense. Something that surprised me early is despite not being able to shoot at a high level, Shead still has a keen ability to get downhill and finish at the rim or stop short and make some tough floaters. Shead is a good playmaker who sets his teammates up well and does the little things as a point guard like understanding who has the hot hand. The one thing Shead could clean up is he does make some wild passes at times. As a rookie, I do appreciate that Shead has the confidence to throw some creative passes, it offers a different look to Davion Mitchell who is ultra conservative on offense. The turnovers hurt sometimes, but I think it's part of the growing pains. Conservative low turnover point guards tend to end up being great bench players in their careers because they don't make a lot of mistakes. Aggressive point guards who make flashy passes are a high risk, high reward breed, but when they hit they can be high level starters for a long time. 

Shead is not the only standout, Jonathan Mogbo has been a breath of fresh air coming off the bench as well. In the preseason Mogbo looked like he was going to need a lot of work. He doesn't have a jumper almost at all and he looked a little out of place through the preseason. Once the season began, Mogbo has settled in great and looks like a real solid contributor to the team today and in the future. Playing the backup center role with Kelly injured, Mogbo has been a beast on the glass and in transition. He makes the right reads with the ball in his hands and actually has a really nice handle for his size. Mogbo already looks like a guy who can guard 1-5 on defense and the Raptors so far have been using him in defensive situations late in games. Mogbo's finishing and shooting need some work, but he is jump out of the gym athletic and the Raptors have done a good job of allowing him to use that athleticism on cuts. Mogbo isn't a perfect player, but he has the tools to be an effective player off most benches in the NBA for now and you can see the clear upside in a 6'6, 225 lbs lightning fast ball handler with good court vision. 

Finally the Raptors look like they might have hit on undrafted rookie Jamison Battle as well. I have been joking in my basketball circles that Battle looks like our very own Georges Niang at home. Standing at 6'7, he is a knockdown 3 point shooter whether on the move or standing still, but that isn't his only skill. On multiple occasions Battle has shown his IQ on the offensive end making nice passes or good cuts off ball. He's been a solid finisher around the rim and rarely makes a bad decision when he's on the floor. Defensively Battle is going to struggle. While he does show his IQ and deceptive strength on defense, he is one of the slower players on the Raptors and is pretty much entirely ground bound. More athletic players are going to hunt Battle whenever he's on the floor. Still, Battle has the size and IQ to be a solid team defender and he hasn't been a complete negative so far. Battle likely sees more time in the g-league when the rotation is back healthy, but he is a sneakily good player and it excites me that the third stringers can be actual contributors again. I look forward to seeing Battle develop, I am sold now that he becomes a key rotation player once the Raptors are ready to be good again. 

The bench has been more than just these 3 rookies, but I wanted to highlight how Masai is back to finding diamonds in the rough. We haven't even seen a game yet from the Raptors first round pick Ja'Kobe Walter. With everyone healthy, the Raptors will actually be in a tough position of deciding who's minutes get cut, a great problem to have! I figure with everyone good to go the Raptors start Quickley, Barrett, Dick, Barnes, Poeltl and rely on Bruce Brown, Kelly Olynyk, Ochai Agbagi, Davion Mitchell and Chris Boucher off the bench. That leaves all 3 of the guys above who are performing great out of the rotation. Again, a great problem to have. I can envision scenarios where a wing is giving the Raptors fits so they can reach down to Jonathan Mogbo as a stopper. If they need some extra scoring punch a Jamison Battle can come in and space the floor. When facing tough guards they can reach to Jamal Shead who can wreak havoc with Davion Mitchell against second units. Best of all though, when everyone's healthy, everyone will need to fight hard for their jobs! The Raptors have real options behind everyone, one bad stretch of games and you could find yourself out of the rotation in order to get a deserving candidate a look. Coming into this season, it was so important for the Raptors to add depth, it looks like Masai has added 3 rotation caliber players to the roster for now and the future, and we haven't even seen Ja'Kobe Walter yet. Raptors basketball is back baby!