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HomeNBAMamukelashvili banking on fit, opportunity in fresh start with Raptors

Mamukelashvili banking on fit, opportunity in fresh start with Raptors

LAS VEGAS — For the record, it’s pronounced this way:

Sandro — as it looks, no issues there. But now comes the fun part: Ma-Moo-Ke-lash-vili.

The Toronto Raptors are hopeful that there will be plenty of reasons to hear his name called out with enthusiasm by in-arena announcer Herbie Kuhn and over the airwaves by play-by-play voice Matt Devlin.

The 26-year-old has amassed just 191 games played over four seasons since he was drafted 54th overall out of Seton Hall in 2021, his time spread between the Milwaukee Bucks and San Antonio Spurs, while averaging just 11.5 minutes per game. He’s hoping that the Raptors can offer him an opportunity that has so far eluded him.

The 6-foot-10 big man chose to sign with the Raptors on a two-year deal for the veteran minimum over several other teams because he saw what he does well — cut, shoot, attack opposing bigs on closeouts — and what the Raptors lack: an experienced back-up big who does those types of things.

“That’s the main thing,” he said after the Raptors veterans held a brief workout in Las Vegas Friday before their youngsters opened their Summer League schedule. “Like, I really want to prove to everybody that I’m a rotational piece, that I can be in the NBA for 10 years, and leave my mark somewhere. San Antonio gave me that platform for two and a half years, but I think it was time for me to take the next step, and I think Toronto was a great option. It was a great fit for me.

“I’m very, very excited to be here, and I’m gonna give my all to the organization, to the city, to the fans, and I’ll do everything I can. Also, there’s a big Georgian community in Toronto, so I’m really excited to see some flags during the game.”

Oftentimes, a player in Mamukelashvili’s situation will have a pre-existing tie to a team when he makes a choice like this — either with the coaching staff or management — but that’s not the case here.

Although he did play a season of high school basketball at Montverde Academy in Florida alongside Raptors veteran RJ Barrett.

“Great guy. I love (Barrett). I love his family, I’m very excited to share the floor with him, hopefully this time he passes me the ball,” Mamukelashvili said when asked about the reunion.

He also did a pre-draft workout for the Raptors alongside A.J. Lawson back in 2021, but otherwise is coming in without any preconceived notions, other than he hopes he’s found an NBA fit.

“The fan base is amazing, Darko (Rajakovic, Raptors head coach) is a European coach, he understands the European style of play,” said Mamukelashvili, who was born in New York City but raised in the Republic of Georgia before spending most of his high school years in Italy, playing club basketball there, prior to coming to the United States to finish high school and play college basketball.

“We have a lot of young guys who want to get better, who want to get to the next level together.  There’s nothing better than being a part of something like that, something where you can grow, get better yourself as a player, and be around the guys who are very motivated to get better.”

On a per-36-minute basis, Mamukelashvili averaged 20.4 points and 9.9 rebounds while shooting 37.3 from three on 8.5 attempts for the Spurs last season. The Raptors hope that the spacing his shooting can provide and his instinct for cutting and ability to put the ball on the floor will add some offensive diversity to their second unit.

The knock on him to this stage in his NBA journey is that while can cause some match-up problems for opposing centres on the offensive end, on the defensive end he’s somewhat of a tweener: he lacks the size to hold his own against bigger NBA centres at the rim and the quickness to hang with more mobile bigs or power forwards on the perimeter.

Mamukelashvili is working on it, spending time in the gym this summer working on close-out techniques and defensive footwork.

“I talked to Coach Darko (and) he said the first and most important thing is just to play hard,” said Mamukelashvili, who signed a two-year deal for $5.26 million with the Raptors, with the second season being a player option. “He said, ‘we play very aggressive defence’, and I think that helps a guy like me. You know, when you’re aggressive, you might make a mistake, but it’s like you’re playing so hard, like most of the time you do not make mistakes.

“I think passive defence … where I kind of play in-between, where I play the drop, and I have to kind of be a little bit passive (is where I struggle),” he said. “But if you play me in the hedge (playing higher in screen and roll coverage), if you play me in the switch, I’ll definitely do my thing. So I’m really excited to take that part of my game to the next level as well.”

The hope on all sides is that Toronto is where Mamukelashvili can make a name for himself.

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