Sandro Mamukelashvili Discussion

How Rob decides who to sign, anyone who lights the Lakers up

 

And he played 80 games last season so he's allergic to load management b*******
Which is big +++

 

lol, sexton lit us up once recently, too, right?

 

Him and Jake both.



Thick …. solid!! For @Julio

 

With soft, beautiful hands lol

 

And his name Alexander, which is Sasha
lol
Alexander Vujačić

(The Machine)

 

More quota. Hmmmmm…

 

Where is Sir Ron, the first of his name? We could have a legit white out starting lineup.

Luka - Reaves - Jake - Mamu - Kessler

And it wouldn’t even be a piss take.

 

lol I feel like Rob was interested in Kessler, Grimes, and Sexton for years. Mamu probalby is from him lighting us up.

 

There was a fantastic analysis I found on Mamu vs Rui (who we might still get back) on Reddit. Here is the link:



I believe it's worth a look if you care about the deep dive on player vs player. Here are the basic findings:

PAIR 2 — Rui Hachimura → Sandro Mamukelashvili

Sandro is 6'9", 240 — larger than Rui (6'8", 230) and only slightly smaller than LeBron (6'9, 250). He has played as a stretch 5 for most of his career, but he is basically the perfect size to replace LeBron and Rui. Playing as the center also impacts his metrics. As a starting power forward next to Kessler, only some of that role carries over.

2A. Perimeter Defense

Rui is clearly the better perimeter defender — 77th-percentile isolation and 90th off-ball chaser versus Sandro's 13th and 24th. The heavy caveat: those Sandro marks were logged as a center who was rarely isolated in space or asked to chase shooters; when he was switched out, he lost. He gambles more successfully in the passing lanes (61st) than Rui (15th). Whether he holds up slotted as power forwards is the biggest genuine unknown. Rui is the safer, proven wing-and-forward defender at the 4, but also isn't that good. Hell, Sandro still graded better at navigating Ball Screens than Rui, so maybe when playing as the 4 Mamu will see significant improvement at defending wings instead of just 4s and 5s.

2B. Interior & Help

Sandro's 39th-percentile rim protection was bad for a center — but at the 4 next to Kessler, he doesn't have to anchor a defense. However, he is way better at help defense: 72nd-percentile blocks, 77th help talent, 80th help activity. Behind a real rim anchor, that makes him a useful secondary* deterrent and rotator — a far better use of his tools than the primary-anchor role he played on Toronto. Rui offered essentially nothing here (16th deterrence, 45th help). At power forward, Sandro is the better help/weak-side defender; neither anchors, and neither needs to next to Walker.

2C. Shooting & Spacing

Both are legitimate floor-spacing 4s. Rui is the more efficient, higher-gravity spot-up marksman** (44.3% on 98th-percentile stable catch-and-shoot). Sandro is the more versatile shooter though. He can pull up off the bounce (50% pull-up 3, 93rd), which enables the pick-and-pop more with Luka and AR.

Applying the same look-vs-making lens as Pair 1 tells a more nuanced story than the raw gap. Rui's 3PT shot quality is 98th percentile (that's nuts) and his openness (75th) confirms Luka/LeBron/Reaves manufactured a lot of nice shots for him; but his shot making is also 91st–92nd percentile, so he wasn't merely a benefactor of being surrounded by elite playmakers. Sandro is the reverse of the flattering case: he made his shots (85th shot making) on worse-graded looks (57th, and a 32nd-percentile C&S shot quality). So the raw 3PT% gap (95th vs 80th) overstates the skill gap — most of it is look quality Rui will partly leave behind, not shot-making that travels with him wherever he goes. So, Rui remains the better pure shooter, but by less than the percentages imply.

2D. Off-Ball Movement & Cutting

Sandro is the more active, faster mover — and a much more frequent cutter (82nd vs 55th), which matters enormously next to a passer like Luka who rewards rim-runs and dives into open space. Both convert movement efficiently (88th–90th scoring impact). This is a real, and slightly surprising, edge for the "big" in the pair.

2E. Finishing & Rim

Rui is a genuine non-finisher — 4th-percentile finishing talent, 28th-percentile contact finishing. His entire scoring value is the jump shot. Sandro attacks the rim more than twice as often, finishes better (75th vs 53rd), and finishes through contact (73rd), a valuable trait for a 4 who will roll and cut into traffic. On everything at the rim, Sandro is dramatically better.

2F. Efficiency & Play-Type

Sandro is the more efficient overall scorer (88th TS, 82nd points-per-shot). Rui counters with elite spot-up (99th) and 95th-percentile points-over-expectation — he massively out-shot his (already great) look quality, a real shot-making signal even after discounting for the looks. Both are pop/movement players. That isn't a problem next to Kessler, who does the rolling. Rui keeps the on-ball edge (isolation 93rd, P&R handler 90th), but we all know he lapses, like when he forgets that he can just shoot over Reed Sheppard.

2G. Rebounding

Sandro is a comprehensively better rebounder on both ends — 87th-percentile defensive-rebounding talent versus Rui's 32nd. Even discounting for the fact that some of this was compiled at center, he will be a meaningful upgrade. Rui rebounded like a weak wing playing out of position at the 4 — a real hole this swap closes.

Scorecard

Perimeter defense: Rui Large
Help / weak-side defense: Sandro Moderate Fits behind Kessler
Rim anchoring neither — Kessler's job now
Catch-&-shoot efficiency: Rui Moderate On elite, borrowed looks
Shooting versatility / pull-up: Sandro Moderate Pick-and-pop
Off-ball movement / cutting: Sandro Large Feeds off Luka
Finishing at the rim: Sandro Large Rui is a non-finisher
Scoring efficiency: Sandro Moderate
On-ball creation: Rui Moderate
Rebounding (both ends): Sandro Huge Closes a real hole

Overall Profiles — Pair 2

• Rui Hachimura — a forward whose value is an elite, high-gravity catch-and-shoot jumper and some on-ball isolation juice, wrapped around a body that can guard slow wings and small bigs. But he is a poor rebounder and a genuine non-finisher (4th-percentile finishing talent), and his gaudy shooting may have been substantially manufactured by his star teammates.
  
  
• Sandro Mamukelashvili — a power forward that can stretch to the 5: pick-and-pop range with pull-up ability, strong rebounding on both sides of the ball, active high-frequency cutting, efficient rim finishing through contact, and help-side shot-blocking that fits far better as a secondary deterrent than the primary anchor role he was forced into. The swing variable is whether he can switch onto wings — his existing marks are poor but were earned guarding centers.

Pair verdict: Read correctly — this trades Rui's proven (and partly borrowed) elite 3pt and mid-range shooting for better rebounding, better finishing, better cutting/movement, better efficiency, better overall spacing, and help defense protection. The only thing they lose is proven elite shooting in the regular season and playoffs. On the metrics, Sandro is better in many different areas and by larger margins.