The biggest hurdle Sandro Mamukelashvili will need to clear to start the 2026-27 season will be getting everyone accustomed to spelling and pronouncing his last name. By comparison to that, the on-court challenges for him with the Los Angeles Lakers should be easy.
All jokes aside, after being a nice surprise in his breakout season with the Toronto Raptors, Mamukelashvili got the first notable payday of his time in the NBA. The first year of his new $52 million alone will give him a salary that exceeds his previous career earnings combined.
The Lakers bet big. For their sake, that gamble needs to work out.
Sandro Mamukelashvili's role and expectations with the Lakers in 2026-27
There should be plenty of nights in the upcoming season that feature Mamukelashvili as the first man standing up to enter the game off the Lakers bench. Mamu will be a pivotal part of giving Los Angeles a productive second unit for the first time since 2023.
Him and Collin Sexton will be the duo that captain and co-captain that bench group. Who you view as in which role is completely arbitrary. They will both be of massive importance.
For those wondering about whether there is a case for Mamukelashvili being a full-time starter, the answer to that should be probably not. We saw just how much fit matters in 2025-26, and this year's prime example of that will be Mamu's role.
When the Lakers tried to mesh Luka Doncic, Rui Hachimura, and LeBron James together as starters last year, the results were disappointing. That was due to poor fit. They looked like a far superior basketball team when Marcus Smart stepped in to replace Rui on a full-time basis with that group.
Mamukelashvili has an excellent skill set. It just lends itself much better to the bench, given all the firepower already in the starting lineup and the need for a defensive-oriented forward with Austin Reaves, Quentin Grimes, Walker Kessler, and Luka.
Stats and award predictions for Sandro Mamukelashvili in 2026-27
Will Mamukelashvili have the type of season off the bench that warrants Sixth Man of the Year buzz again? Probably not, but that is not to suggest it will be a bad campaign for him.
Sixth Man of the Year is often given out to a premier bench scorer. Take a quick look at the list of winners for that award and that point will make itself. Mamu just might not get a big enough slice of the pie to truly generate enough of those buckets in Los Angeles.
Doncic and Reaves will be tasked with trying to feed a lot of mouths on offense through a balanced attack. However, those two are also expected to take on a large chunk of the scoring load themselves. That will result in lessened production the further down the pecking order you go.
That is not to say Mamukelashvili will not be an impactful scorer for the Lakers. It just will not hit the benchmarks needed to be a Sixth Man of the Year winner.
Expect the numbers for Mamukelashvili to be somewhere around: 10.5 points per game, 5.0 rebounds per game, 2.5 assists per game, 0.5 steals per game, 0.5 blocks per game.
The bottom line with Sandro Mamukelashvili
Being the team that broke the bank on Mamukelashvili after his breakout season comes with risk, but it should also come with reward if all goes right. There is good reason the Lakers rolled the dice here.
Doncic can make just about any big man look good, but having Mamukelashvili allows Los Angeles an extra layer to their offense with his floor spacing. The pick-and-pop action with those two should be exciting to watch.
Mamukelashvili was also a strong quick-read decision-maker for the Raptors last season. That should bode well for the Lakers in transition when they are trying to pick up the pace of the offense in the coming campaign.
Working around Mamukelashvili's limitations on defense comes with a fair share of obstacles, but JJ Redick has overcome far tougher challenges in his short time as head coach. This is a union the Lakers should be able to make work.
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