Shams: Raptors sign Mamukelashvili to a two-year, $5.5 million deal (player option)

[kalel123]

I haven't seen too many people complaining about this signing, it's solid and inoffensive. What have been the complaints?

Complaints would be that this guy looks more like a good 3rd big and while a step up from the usual G league recycle bin, what we need is a 2nd big (PF/C for those illiterate) that can provide quality 20-30 minutes as/if needed. And this guy is not it. But of course, we are going to have people pretending otherwise and we have a guy saying ignorant things like above.

i.e. while not a bad signing, it's only a marginal move and not nearly enough.

This team has many needs

Hole in the middle is the biggest one. That's why this team struggles a lot more than it should whenever Poeltl sits and we need someone more substantial than a minimum big.

[Los_29]

Complaints would be that this guy looks more like a good 3rd big and while a step up from the usual G league recycle bin, what we need is a 2nd big (PF/C for those illiterate) that can provide quality 20-30 minutes as/if needed. And this guy is not it. But of course, we are going to have people pretending otherwise and we have a guy saying ignorant things like above.

i.e. while not a bad signing, it's only a marginal move and not nearly enough.

This team has many needs

Hole in the middle is the biggest one. That's why this team struggles a lot more than it should whenever Poeltl sits and we need someone more substantial than a minimum big.

Sandro was pretty solid in SA. Definitely capable of giving this team 10-15 minutes a night.

[Boogie!]

I remember watching this guys college highlights years back, he looked like jokic.

[Mikistan]

Remember we only signed Biyombo for a one year deal

[ATLTimekeeper]

Remember we only signed Biyombo for a one year deal

No, it was a 1+1 and he declined the player option.

[Mikistan]

Remember we only signed Biyombo for a one year deal

No, it was a 1+1 and he declined the player option.

Point being, sometimes players work out for a year, not everyone is baynes, sometimes you get a scola

[tsherkin]

Complaints would be that this guy looks more like a good 3rd big and while a step up from the usual G league recycle bin, what we need is a 2nd big (PF/C for those illiterate) that can provide quality 20-30 minutes as/if needed. And this guy is not it. But of course, we are going to have people pretending otherwise and we have a guy saying ignorant things like above.

i.e. while not a bad signing, it's only a marginal move and not nearly enough.

This team has many needs

Hole in the middle is the biggest one. That's why this team struggles a lot more than it should whenever Poeltl sits and we need someone more substantial than a minimum big.

We also lack a lead guard/perimeter player. Like, BI will help this quite a lot, but we also need someone who won't break if someone breathes on him too hard, and can be physical going to the rack. RJ is the best we have at that right now, but he's got problems doing that at the level we need, volume not withstanding. We need a pretty solid penetrate-and-pitch and PnR playmaker

[kalel123]

This team has many needs

Hole in the middle is the biggest one. That's why this team struggles a lot more than it should whenever Poeltl sits and we need someone more substantial than a minimum big.

We also lack a lead guard/perimeter player. Like, BI will help this quite a lot, but we also need someone who won't break if someone breathes on him too hard, and can be physical going to the rack. RJ is the best we have at that right now, but he's got problems doing that at the level we need, volume not withstanding. We need a pretty solid penetrate-and-pitch and PnR playmaker

Not sure what your point is. What you are describing is a fundamental problem with the roster that has no quick fix. At least they got lots of bodies to throw at those positions. And some that you hope can grow into it. Whereas, secondary big's not necessarily the hardest spot to fix, they had multiple opportunities present themselves, and they just refuse to do anything about it other than fill it with G league recycle garbage or minimum bigs. Not joking when I say everyone on this team with any prospect of quality minutes is 6' 7" and under if you take away Brandon Ingram who is 6' 8". Now this is before this new guy joined but it's a huge quesiton mark how much he would contribute or if he's going to be the next Aron Baynes or Alex Len.

[RoteSchroder]

Hole in the middle is the biggest one. That's why this team struggles a lot more than it should whenever Poeltl sits and we need someone more substantial than a minimum big.

We also lack a lead guard/perimeter player. Like, BI will help this quite a lot, but we also need someone who won't break if someone breathes on him too hard, and can be physical going to the rack. RJ is the best we have at that right now, but he's got problems doing that at the level we need, volume not withstanding. We need a pretty solid penetrate-and-pitch and PnR playmaker

Not sure what your point is. What you are describing is a fundamental problem with the roster that has no quick fix. At least they got lots of bodies to throw at those positions. And some that you hope can grow into it. Whereas, secondary big's not necessarily the hardest spot to fix, they had multiple opportunities present themselves, and they just refuse to do anything about it other than fill it with G league recycle garbage or minimum bigs. Not joking when I say everyone on this team with any prospect of quality minutes is 6' 7" and under if you take away Brandon Ingram who is 6' 8". Now this is before this new guy joined but it's a huge quesiton mark how much he would contribute or if he's going to be the next Aron Baynes or Alex Len.

We got several players as perimeter contributors, just not at a high level (Scottie, IQ, RJ, Ingram, Shead, Ja'Kobe, maybe Martin/Hepburn if their game can translate). Add in a good ball-movement system and it's probably good enough to make do for now.

Definitely need another rotational interior defender off the bench. However, with CMB, Mogbo, Ochai, Walter, Shead/Martin/Hepburn, I wonder if it's good enough to absorb a bad interior defender (Mamu). From what I gather, Mamu on offense is pretty strong off the bench..it's the lack of defense that limited his playing time..specifically interior D. I surmise it would basically be like fielding another Olynyk (more three point shooting, less passing), which we got to see last year.

In that context, Mamu could be staggered with Scottie + defensive bench mob, but less so with Gradey/IQ/RJ.

[tsherkin]

Not sure what your point is.

We need that more than reserve depth at the 5 beyond what we have in Mamu and potentially CMB. That's my point.

Now this is before this new guy joined but it's a huge quesiton mark how much he would contribute or if he's going to be the next Aron Baynes or Alex Len.

I don't think anyone is expecting world-beating awesomeness from him, just 10 or 15 minutes of enabling the offense with his passing and range, plus he rebounds well.

[Psubs]

PG Shead
SG Jakobe
SF Mogbo
PF CMB
C Mamu

The other 4 will keep their opponents in check. Mamu just needs to rebound. He will be fine like JV.

[dhackett1565]

Not sure what your point is.

We need that more than reserve depth at the 5 beyond what we have in Mamu and potentially CMB. That's my point.

Now this is before this new guy joined but it's a huge quesiton mark how much he would contribute or if he's going to be the next Aron Baynes or Alex Len.

I don't think anyone is expecting world-beating awesomeness from him, just 10 or 15 minutes of enabling the offense with his passing and range, plus he rebounds well.

We currently have a veteran starting C, an early-prime backup C, a rookie F/C who can likely do small ball, a 2nd year F/C (Mogbo) who can likely do small ball (and showed he can play a rotation role last year), and a 2-way C in Chomche who might develop such that he can take some minutes. Leaving aside any minutes where Scottie slides to the spot, which we should avoid if possible but are not a non-starter.

Would I like a veteran C who can play starting minutes but doesn't need to? Sure. Will the team struggle if Jak is hurt? Yes. Is this the sort of depth problem every team has at one position or another? Absolutely.

We'll do fun small ball stuff when Jak is hurt. It won't be as good as having Jak, but how much worse it is than having a generic veteran backup center in his place is debatable. Last year it was a mess, but our options behind Jak have doubled (was basically just Mogbo and Chomche last year - adding an actual backup C in Mamu and another young option in CMB is a definite upgrade, especially considering Darko wouldn't play Boucher). So I'm optimistic we'll have better luck both buying Jak rest during games and weathering any short injuries he suffers. Losing any starter for big chunks will hurt, of course.

[tsherkin]

Not sure what your point is.

We need that more than reserve depth at the 5 beyond what we have in Mamu and potentially CMB. That's my point.

Now this is before this new guy joined but it's a huge quesiton mark how much he would contribute or if he's going to be the next Aron Baynes or Alex Len.

I don't think anyone is expecting world-beating awesomeness from him, just 10 or 15 minutes of enabling the offense with his passing and range, plus he rebounds well.

We currently have a veteran starting C, an early-prime backup C, a rookie F/C who can likely do small ball, a 2nd year F/C (Mogbo) who can likely do small ball (and showed he can play a rotation role last year), and a 2-way C in Chomche who might develop such that he can take some minutes. Leaving aside any minutes where Scottie slides to the spot, which we should avoid if possible but are not a non-starter.

Would I like a veteran C who can play starting minutes but doesn't need to? Sure. Will the team struggle if Jak is hurt? Yes. Is this the sort of depth problem every team has at one position or another? Absolutely.

We'll do fun small ball stuff when Jak is hurt. It won't be as good as having Jak, but how much worse it is than having a generic veteran backup center in his place is debatable. Last year it was a mess, but our options behind Jak have doubled (was basically just Mogbo and Chomche last year - adding an actual backup C in Mamu and another young option in CMB is a definite upgrade, especially considering Darko wouldn't play Boucher). So I'm optimistic we'll have better luck both buying Jak rest during games and weathering any short injuries he suffers. Losing any starter for big chunks will hurt, of course.

Yep, all of that makes sense to me. We are well-positioned. We don't need more than a third of our roster to be guys ear-marked for the center position. We have other needs, and we do have a bunch of multi-position players, so it really is JUST the 5 that's any kind of depth concern. And as you just nicely outlined, we have a bunch of good options, providing for basic health... without which, any team is screwed anyhow.

[NoBias]

PG Shead
SG Jakobe
SF Mogbo
PF CMB
C Mamu

The other 4 will keep their opponents in check. Mamu just needs to rebound. He will be fine like JV.

Mogbo as our backup 3 is devastating. That bench lineup makes me want to cry lol

[dhackett1565]

PG Shead
SG Jakobe
SF Mogbo
PF CMB
C Mamu

The other 4 will keep their opponents in check. Mamu just needs to rebound. He will be fine like JV.

Mogbo as our backup 3 is devastating. That bench lineup makes me want to cry lol

I'd be surprised if we ran three bigs out in a bench lineup, considering we have so many wings that need minutes. More likely it's two of the three most of the time, and sometimes just one of them. Even just running two of them, unless Mogbo takes a shooting leap, he probably doesn't play beside CMB at all. More likely they each get time at the 4 beside Mamu, and each can play the nominal C beside Scottie at the 4 when they decide to go with a small ball look for the bench.

Between Shead, Ja'Kobe, Ochai and Gradey, we'll be running a lot of guard/wing heavy lineups off the bench, never mind that we'd likely want RJ to support some bench scoring at times.

[GreatWhiteStiff]

How can anyone hate Boucher who was a class act getting benched during his contract year...

how is wanting him off the team hating on him?

he was a terrible player who couldn't learn any systems since he joined the team.

And yet he impacted winning off the bench more than most. He has his flaws but he also has his strengths that cant be taught. Hes a great minimum type player to have imo.

His biggest flaw was playing winning basketball on this team, perhaps. Good day, sir!

[Tor_Raps]

how is wanting him off the team hating on him?

he was a terrible player who couldn't learn any systems since he joined the team.

And yet he impacted winning off the bench more than most. He has his flaws but he also has his strengths that cant be taught. Hes a great minimum type player to have imo.

His biggest flaw was playing winning basketball on this team, perhaps. Good day, sir!

Yup... I can overlook boneheaded plays when you make more good plays.

[WuTang_CMB]

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[GreatWhiteStiff]

PG Shead
SG Jakobe
SF Mogbo
PF CMB
C Mamu

The other 4 will keep their opponents in check. Mamu just needs to rebound. He will be fine like JV.

IIRC, JV hurt the defence plenty, and didn't help team rebounding as much as imagined. There's a reason why he continues to be further and further devalued around the league. I don't really recall a time we put a bunch of defensive guys around JV and it was ok. You were right, Johnny, you were right this whole time!

[ArthurVandelay]

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Mamu angling for the next Gillette spokesman gig