After bouncing around the league for a few seasons and struggling to truly break out, Sandro Mamukelashvili made a name for himself last year with the Toronto Raptors. He played in 80 games, finished 10th in Sixth Man of the Year voting and averaged career highs in points (11.2), rebounds (4.9) and assists (1.9) per game while shooting 38.9% from deep and 64.2% inside the arc. Over the summer. the Los Angeles Lakers took note of that stellar campaign and inked him to a four-year, $52 million deal.
Although Mamukelashvili hasn’t been as efficient beyond the arc as last year yet (7-of-21, 33.3%), his versatile offensive game — rich with driving, passing and spacing abilities — is helping lather up the Lakers’ attack. According to databallr, their offensive rating is 4.4 points better with him on the floor thus far (122.0 points vs. 117.6 points per 100), whatever you deem that worth in a small sample through seven games.
“He’s a really rare offensive player because he’s an advantage creator in some ways. So if he’s guarded by a five and he can pick and pop into space, that’s an advantage creation,” head coach JJ Redick told reporters before Sunday’s win over the Raptors. “He’s really good at follows and touch rolls, roller behind, so that’s an advantage creation. So he’s an advantage creator and then his 0.5 [second] decision-making and his shooting ability and finishing ability, he’s an advantage finisher. And then on top of that, he’s also a connector. There’s very few offensive players that are all three of those things and he is.”
Mamukelashvili’s malleable skill-set enables the Lakers to deploy him in an array of beneficial ways. He can space or screen off of the ball. He can attack closeouts when Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves compromise defenses. He can operate as a playmaking hub to ease Dončić and Reaves’ creation responsibilities. There’s plenty to like and that’s been on display to begin the year.
His next chance to showcase all that he provides is Monday night at 7 p.m. against the Miami Heat.
You can follow Jackson on Twitter at @jackfrank_jjf.
