Scottie Barnes Shares Reaction to Raptors Selecting his 'Best Friend'

Scottie Barnes said he was super excited when the Toronto Raptors selected his best friend Jonathan Mogbo in the NBA draft

San Francisco Dons forward Jonathan Mogbo (10) spins toward the basket as Cincinnati Bearcats guard Simas Lukosius (41) defends in the second half of a college basketball game in the National Invitation Tournament, Wednesday, March 20, 2024, at Fifth Third Arena in Cincinnati. / Kareem Elgazzar/The Enquirer / USA TODAY

Scottie Barnes had no idea where Jonathan Mogbo was going to be drafted when he flew down to Florida for Mogbo's NBA draft party.

No matter what happened, Barnes was going to be excited. It was the moment Mogbo had been waiting for. After years of grinding as an unknown basketball prospect, Mogbo was about to finally realize his dream. Two years in junior college and another two at the Division I level were about to end with Mogbo on an NBA roster.

But then it happened.

With the 31st pick in the 2024 NBA draft, the Toronto Raptors selected the 6-foot-6 forward out of San Francisco.

"I was super excited. That's my boy. Like I’ve been saying, that’s been my boy since third grade, my best friend. I'm just super excited, super proud for him," Barnes said Monday in his first public appearance since Toronto selected Mogbo.

Barnes couldn't hold back his emotions. There's a video from the draft party and Barnes can be seen with a smile pasted across his face. According to Mogbo, there might have been some tears too.

"I got some friends in the city, but to be able to have my best friend and city with me. It's gonna be great," Barnes said.

But Toronto didn't add Mogbo because he's Barnes' best friend. This wasn't some sort of decision to appease Barnes. Frankly, the Raptors didn't fully understand the extent of their relationship, Raptors general manager Bobby Webster said on draft night.

So who is Mogbo?

The type of player Toronto used to have a roster full of. He's a versatile wing defender who kind of plays a little bit like Barnes. He's a skilled passer for his size who can move with the basketball and is at his best scoring near the hoop. He lacks a three-point shot of any kind for now, but like Barnes, he's ready to work.

"First of all, his length on the defensive, you know, he moves his feet really well. So that can be really good. When you are a long, active defender in this league, great things can happen for you," Barnes said. "He's a high IQ player, he passes the ball pretty well. And he's very unselfish. So when you're very unselfish and you have those intangibles where you can block shots, you can move your feet, you can guard, that's gonna be great. And then everything else just developed from there with some time."

That'll be the plan for Toronto with the 22-year-old this summer and into the future. He'll be among the team's top players at Summer League later this month and then it'll be a summer of fine-tuning his shooting stroke and working on rounding out his game.

For now, Mogbo and Barnes' skills overlap a little too much to complement each other. They'd make an impressive defensive pairing, but their lackluster shooting would create spacing constraints when the two share the court together. The hope, though, is that'll change over time. Barnes has been working to improve his three-point stroke and if Mogbo can become an adequate shooter eventually, the two childhood friends could become cornerstone peices of Toronto's frontcourt down the road.