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Sandro Mamukelashvili entered the NBA and immediately chose to be “chip on his shoulder” guy. With the selection of 54 as his jersey number, there was no conceivable way he could ever forget how many players went above him in the 2021 NBA draft. After spending a year toiling, some might even say caged, in Oshkosh after an injury-prone start to the year for the Milwaukee Bucks, Mamu emerged this summer with stars in his eyes.
He...probably won’t sniff the rotation in the Playoffs. But hey, at least he landed above a fully rostered player in Thanasis Antetokounmpo?
Poll
The 11th Most Important Player to Milwaukee’s Postseason Success is...
This poll is closed
-
28%
MarJon Beauchamp
(161 votes) -
8%
Joe Ingles
(47 votes) -
8%
Jevon Carter
(51 votes) -
4%
Grayson Allen
(23 votes) -
1%
Pat Connaughton
(6 votes) -
1%
Wes Matthews
(8 votes) -
45%
Bobby Portis
(257 votes) -
1%
Brook Lopez
(11 votes) -
1%
Jrue Holiday
(6 votes)
(Yes, we’re choosing to ignore the Grayson troll votes)
Mamu remains on a two-way with Milwaukee, meaning he can appear in 50 games with the Bucks. I expect the team wants to keep him around all year long, so expect frequent retweets of his highlights from the Wisconsin Herd. The question of Mamu remains whether he can translate his genuinely robust production in Summer League and with the Georgian National Team onto the larger Bucks roster.
His quick stroke in Vegas wasn’t just significantly faster from last year, but it was far more confident. He didn’t hit a triple in 2021 until his final contest, but even with a sliver of space he was willing to pull up this summer, nailing them at a 47.6% clip in a small sample size. He also showed acumen driving to the basket, particularly in transition, and was able to finish through contact.
Milwaukee needs to determine how much value can be extracted from a player who thrives most with the ball in their hand. He hasn’t had to flash his passing as much while being a primary scorer, but can a consistent three-point gunner with iffy defense warrant a spot on a team behind the best four man in the league? He doesn’t seem to have the length to play defense at the five, but many teams are going even smaller than Mamu at that position occasionally in the postseason. I’m doubtful, but that’s a decision Horst and company will have to determine after this season when his contract expires.
Two-way contracts remain ineligible to play in the postseason, hence his 14 ranking in our exercise. Although placing above Thanasis indicates some readers believe he may get converted to a standard contract before season’s end. What say you?
Poll
Gut check: How confident are you that Sandro Mamukelashvili will be in the playoff rotation?
This poll is closed
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32%
1 — Not in the rotation at all
(76 votes) -
44%
2 — Might play a few rotation minutes here or there
(104 votes) -
18%
3 — Will get some minutes, depends on the series
(43 votes) -
4%
4 — Will be part of the rotation, playing steady minutes
(10 votes) -
1%
5 — Firmly in the rotation, playing heavy minutes!
(3 votes)
And so we move onto players that may actually crack the Playoff rotation for Bud’s bucks, although we’ve still got a ways to go when considering he usually goes nine deep maximum in the postseason. Let’s keep it rolling with 13.
Poll
The 13th Most Important Player to Milwaukee’s Postseason Success is...
This poll is closed
-
29%
Serge Ibaka
(73 votes) -
30%
George Hill
(75 votes) -
22%
MarJon Beauchamp
(56 votes) -
2%
Joe Ingles
(7 votes) -
8%
Jevon Carter
(21 votes) -
4%
Grayson Allen
(11 votes) -
0%
Pat Connaughton
(2 votes) -
1%
Wes Matthews
(3 votes)
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