Toronto Raptors rookie lands major shoe deal
Toronto Raptors rookie Jonathan Mogbo has yet to play an NBA game, but he’s already got something many players in the league don’t: his own shoe deal.
Mogbo, who was taken by the franchise with the 31st pick in this past June’s draft, announced on Thursday that he’d landed a deal with Serious Player Only, becoming the first NBA player to land a deal with the brand.
Toronto Raptors rookie Jonathan Mogbo has signed a multi-year shoe deal with Serious Player Only. 📄✍️@J_Mogbo becomes the 1st NBA player to sign with the upstart brand that has created a grassroots following with its well-received drop-in performance insole sneakers. pic.twitter.com/xne3VsSZ0R
— Nick DePaula (@NickDePaula) September 12, 2024
While he’s already making a decent chunk of change relative to your average person, the deal should help Mogbo catch up a little to his peers when it comes to off-court compensation.
Per SalarySwish, Mogbo is making $1,862,265 in his rookie year with the team, tied for the lowest contract of players on the team’s main roster.
Mogbo, who grew up in West Palm Beach, Florida, and is a longtime friend of Toronto franchise cornerstone Scottie Barnes, played for four college teams in four years: the Independence CC Pirates, the Northeastern Oklahoma A&M Golden Norsemen, the Missouri State Bears, and the San Francisco Dons.
Barnes himself was actually at Mogbo’s draft party the night that he joined the franchise.
Mogbo will have to work his way into Darko Rajakovic’s rotation. The second-year coach usually runs a tight set of 10 players for most games. It’s not inconceivable that he could end up honing his craft along with Raptors 905 in the G League.
But at age 22, after spending several years in college, Mogbo will only have a relatively short window of opportunity to prove if he’s ready to take the next leap to professional basketball.
The Raptors get things going in early October with a Montreal-based training camp before playing five preseason games next month. They’ll get things going for real on October 23, when they tip off their season at home against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
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