Perhaps the most intriguing signing for the Los Angeles Lakers this offseason was big man Sandro Mamukelashvili on a four-year, $52 million deal. The 27-year-old is entering his sixth season, but didn’t fully rise to prominence in the NBA world until last season with the Toronto Raptors.
Mamukelashvili is somewhat of a do-it-all stretch big that effectively acts as a more well-rounded replacement for Rui Hachimura on the new-look Lakers. Fans around the world may not know Mamukelashvili’s game as well as they do some of the other Lakers signings, so he gave some thoughts as to what people might see with him.
“What you can expect from me on the court is hustle. Never giving up,” Mamukelashvili said via the Lakers YouTube channel. “Making sure I don’t take possessions off. Play hard, make the right decisions, but at the same time, just somebody who embraces being a Laker. Understanding how big it is to be a part of this big family. I want to win a championship, so every day I’ll come out there and play hard and try everything to get us as close to that as possible.”
On and off the court, Mamukelashvili already seems like someone that Lakers fans will quickly embrace. He talks both about hustle, never taking plays off and making the right decisions while also embracing being a Laker and everything that comes with that.
There is a reason the Lakers reportedly had Mamukelashvili locked in on a deal almost immediately into free agency, and that’s because of everything he says here. He is ready to give the Lakers everything he has in service of bringing a championship to downtown Los Angeles.
Quentin Grimes evaluates new-look Lakers
Quentin Grimes — one of the other major additions of the Lakers offseason — mentioned Mamukelashvili when talking about his thoughts on the new-look roster.
“AR had a fantastic season last year, well-deserving of the contract he got and everything,” Grimes said on 710 AM ESPN L.A. with Mason & Ireland. “He’s one of the best scorers in the NBA, probably. Walker (Kessler), you know, is one of the best rim protectors. I know he only played like four or five games last year, but everybody knows what he does. Nobody wants to go in that paint, 7’2” guy he’s going to block shots. He’s going to give us a definite advantage because people aren’t gonna go in that paint, so we can guard and put pressure on the ball even more knowing we got big Walker down in the paint holding it down.
“We got guys like Collin (Sexton), a dog. (Sandro) Mamu, a dog, already getting out here and getting work in. So, it’s going to be a lot of fun. I feel like we’re going to surprise some people for sure with how good we are and clicking on all cylinders, I think.”
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