Toronto Raptors Rumors
Get a free trial Mogbo was raised in Wellington, FLA, about 16 miles west of West Palm Beach. His mom is Jamaican and his dad, Chuck, is of Nigerian descent. He’s the baby of the family. His two stepbrothers, Charles and Bryan, are both two decades his senior and were already adults and out of the house by the time he and his older brother Zach grew up. He and Zach are three years apart. “I was very spoiled, I’ll say that,” Mogbo admitted. “Very spoiled.”
He was quiet; polite but reserved. The two boys were enrolled in private Christian school, so initially, their only friends were the ones they made at church. Their first taste of sport came when they were put into football. Mogbo, five years old at the time, played running back and linebacker. He was a husky kid, with “chunky cheeks” and an awkward stride, as his mom tells it, but once he got onto the field he would “tear it up.” The other kids nicknamed him Terminator. He would play a little basketball and soccer between football seasons but didn’t take up organized hoops until the fourth grade. That’s when he met Scottie Barnes, one of his first AAU teammates. Mogbo recalls his mom driving them to their first game. He also remembers that they were late; they had to wait outside Barnes’ house as he got ready. They may not have shared the same penchant for being on schedule, but their personalities meshed well and the two became fast friends: Scott and J-Mo. “He was a funny guy, goofy, I would say he was really goofy,” Mogbo said of Barnes. “I feel like we bonded together because we are similar … We love to bring smiles to peoples’ faces.”
That’s all Mogbo had to hear. He was all in. No matter how unlikely the dream seemed, he was going to find a way to make it happen. “I would always tell my mom, I’m going to play against Steph Curry one day,” Mogbo remembered. “She’s like, ‘You’ve gotta put in the work to play against him.’ So, that [was] the challenge.” “We had our struggles, but he was always determined,” Ms. Mogbo said. “He was always ready. He would say, ‘Mom, I need my breakfast at whatever time, I’m training with the coach at LA Fitness at such and such time, please be ready,’ and he would be sitting in the car before me. He’s that kind of kid.”
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Lakers still interested in Bruce Brown
The Lakers and Milwaukee Bucks are two teams that showed interest in Brown last season, sources said, and Los Angeles maintains interest in him this offseason. One team whispered to have interest in Brown and was quietly mentioned as a possible suitor months ago is the Golden State Warriors. While unlikely to occur, the Warriors have the ability to move Andrew Wiggins, who is making more than $26 million this season, in a package from Toronto that includes Brown and other assets. This would open up more financial flexibility for the Dubs moving forward.
An agreement exists between the NBA and FIBA that governs the movement of players back and forth, and so Sacramento had to wait until he was a free agent overseas and had an interest in coming to the NBA. To lure him over, they guaranteed him $13 million, with a team option for 2025-26. A guaranteed contract works both ways. Vezenkov did not have a player option for 2024-25, and so when reports surfaced that he wanted to return overseas, he couldn’t just leave; the NBA-FIBA agreement wouldn’t allow him to break a contract with his NBA team.
Blake Murphy: Freeman-Liberty was only guaranteed for $100K. it would have become $150K tomorrow, and $800K if he made opening day roster. He’ll have league interest as a 2-way. Vezenkov now free to sign in Greece, or wherever. We await the buyout # to determine cap impact for Raps.
Blake Murphy: Raptors now have 1 NBA roster spot open, plus 1 more for summer/camp invite/Exhibit 10/etc type. How much space they have under tax is somewhere $4-10M range, depending on Vezenkov buyout and incentives assumptions.
Blake Murphy: Vezenkov is leaving the entire $6,658,536 on the table in the buyout, per a source. The Raptors pay $0. He has no cap hit any longer.
