A day after the Toronto Raptors shook the basketball world by bringing back Kawhi Leonard via trade, they lost a key rotation player to free agency. Sandro Mamukelashvili, who had an excellent season with Toronto after signing last summer, agreed to sign with the Los Angeles Lakers for a reported $52 million US over four seasons, far more than the nearly capped-out Raptors could offer.
Mamukelashvili's Breakout Season
Mamukelashvili, 27, had eschewed better offers to originally come to Toronto, accepting only $2.7 million. He had made only about $8 million over his career before this deal. Now he will earn far more than that in Year 1 in Los Angeles after declining a small player option with the Raptors. He averaged 11.2 points, 4.9 rebounds, 1.9 assists, and hit 38.9% of his three-point attempts, making him a crucial floor spacer for one of the NBA's worst shooting teams. Most of Toronto's top lineups included Mamukelashvili due to his shooting ability.
His play declined against Cleveland in the playoffs, but both sides would have welcomed continuing the partnership had it been possible. The writing was on the wall when Mamukelashvili did his exit interview after Toronto's seven-game loss to the Cavaliers. He loved the fit and that he proved he belonged in the NBA, but knew it was a business.
Mamukelashvili's Desire to Stay
“I think a lot of people don’t know last year, I got offered a lot more like money to play, I mean, to be at other teams. But to me, the main priority, as I said, is, since I’m a basketball player, I’m a competitor, I want to win and I want to be part of something,” Mamukelashvili said at the time. “So I think this summer will be the same thing, kind of understanding where I fit the best and what role I can play and hopefully it’s going to be here. I really want to be back. I love Toronto, I love the people. I love the organization and coach Darko (Rajakovic), I think he was a guy that gave me a chance to go out there and be myself.”
High Praise from Coach Rajakovic
Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic is a huge fan and will miss him. “Obviously, he came to us as a fringe NBA player. Is he playing, not playing, in and out of rotations. From Day 1 with us, he was able to find a way to help us,” Rajakovic said in May. “And he had some amazing performances this year. I think that definitely the question that he had for himself, ‘Do I belong?’ Yes, Sandro, you belong in NBA. You’re a great NBA player.”
Mamukelashvili had mainly served as a backup centre in Toronto, but had he returned, the Raptors had hoped he would continue to work on his body and quickness to play more at power forward and possibly even small forward. He also praised the medical staff, which so appealed to Leonard. “Just having the medical staff, they’re always here. I play 80 games, I had that soreness, I had this, I had that, but I feel like they’re so approachable, always open after hours, just to come in here and work on you, just making sure, like, it’s a family atmosphere and you can be open to everybody,” Mamukelashvili had said. Ironically, Raptors director of sports science Alex McKechnie worked for years with the Lakers before ending up with the Raptors.
Lakers' Busy Offseason
The Lakers have been busy since parting ways with LeBron James, also agreeing to tentative deals to bring in Walker Kessler (for more than the Raptors traded for Leonard), Quentin Grimes, and Collin Sexton. Most NBA deals cannot become official until July 6.
Who Replaces Mamukelashvili?
The jury is out on who will replace Mamukelashvili. Rookie Allen Graves is the long-term replacement in theory, but most rookies not named Collin Murray-Boyles are not ready to contribute immediately. Leonard brings far more pull-up three-point shooting than Brandon Ingram did, but the Raptors still need to make up for losing Mamukelashvili since starting centre Jakob Poeltl is a complete non-threat as a shooter and Murray-Boyles is not yet dangerous in that area. Toronto is taking a look at former Oregon centre Nate Bittle — a 7-footer who hit 33% of his three-pointers and 74% of his free throws over five NCAA seasons — at NBA summer league in Las Vegas starting later this month. Bittle was the No. 20 recruit out of high school in 2020 but has battled injuries.
The Raptors have had a brutal time signing free agents who worked out over three decades. Mamukelashvili follows the path of Bismack Biyombo, who also signed with the Raptors on the cheap for a year and played so well he was rewarded with far more elsewhere (four years and $72 million with Orlando in 2016).
