The Sacramento Kings get a surprising number of lucky bounces when it comes to players. Unfortunately, they're terrible at handling them. And if the Kings aren't careful, they just might end up bobbling Jonathan Mogbo. That would be unfortunate, given the potential he brings to Sacramento.
After spending some time in Toronto, the Raptors waived Mogbo over the offseason. They needed to lock in on a specific group of young players to put around Scottie Barnes, R.J. Barrett, Immanuel Quickley, and Kawhi Leonard. Apparently, Mogbo didn't fit what they are trying to build right now.
So, the Raptors' loss is the Kings' gain. Sacramento scooped up Mogbo with a two-way contract, putting him to work in the Summer League. He most certainly impressed the front office as they continued with him into the preseason. Once again, he put on one heck of a show, to say the least.
Now that the regular season has started, Doug Christie is leaning hard on his veterans and perceived starters. That includes rookie Darius Acuff Jr., who is basically the only point guard on the team. That leaves Mogbo on the bench a lot, which is understandable but also not a mistake to keep making.
Get Mogbo some regular minutes, Doug
The reality is that Mogbo is on a two-way contract, and there are several young players also looking for minutes. On top of that, the Kings are also dealing with several injuries that have messed up whatever rotation plans they had in place. It sounds a lot like last season, actually. That's not great.
Keeping all of that in mind, Mogbo's potential cannot be ignored. He has proved to be efficient on offense, a cornerstone on defense, and a spark off the bench. No one is suggesting that he takes a starting spot from someone, but he has earned himself more regular utilization than what we've seen.
Over the course of the first six games, Mogbo's minutes have ranged from zero to 25, with an average of 17.3. That's all over the map, as was his usage. Frankly, it would just be good to see him get a standard 10 to 12 minutes per game on a line with guys like Nique Clifford and Alex Karaban.
Being on the bench is a strange and important part of the development process, without question. But these young players also need to get out on the court and put what they're learning to work. The Kings need to do that with Mogbo and avoid botching another young player's growth,
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