Years ago, Sandro Mamukelashvili began his career as a member of the Milwaukee Bucks, where he spent his first 1.5 NBA seasons after they drafted him 54th overall in 2021. But in March of 2023, they waived him before he joined the San Antonio Spurs for 2.5 years then ultimately established himself with the Toronto Raptors in 2025-26.
He parlayed that breakout campaign into a four-year, $52 million deal with the Los Angeles Lakers this past summer and has been absolutely sensational to begin the season.
On Wednesday against the Bucks, he authored one of his best games thus far with 23 points (9-of-15 shooting, 5-of-8 from deep), three rebounds, two assists and one steal. In the win, Los Angeles outscored Milwaukee by 21 points during his 26 minutes.
Following the victory — the Lakers’ seventh in a row — Mamukelashvili didn’t pass up the opportunity to point out what Milwaukee lost when it parted ways with him years ago.
“I’m happy we got this dub,” he said postgame. “Even though I got drafted here, it’s always great to come back and beat the team that waived you.”
Mamukelashvili has been among the league’s top reserves this season, elevating the Lakers’ offense with his shooting, passing, driving and transition ball-handling. They deploy him in a variety of lineups, where he spends time at both power forward and center. According to databallr, they’re scoring 128.1 points per 100 possessions when he’s on the floor.
Regardless of whether he’s sharing the court with Walker Kessler, the Lakers are thriving in his minutes, which allows them to slot him among the starters or help anchor bench-heavy units — the result of his size and wide-ranging offensive skill-set.
Los Angeles gets a few days off before concluding its road trip Sunday evening against the Phoenix Suns at 7 p.m., when it aims for an eighth straight win. Averaging 23 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.0 steals over his past two outings, Mamukelashvili will hope to stay in a groove himself and keep helping the 11-2 Lakers stack victories.
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