Did the Raptors Just Find Their Secret Weapon?

Did the Raptors Just Find Their Secret Weapon?

The Toronto Raptors have added a player signing Sandrew Mamu Klesi to a 2-year $5.5 million contract including a player option. I will say his name again, Sandrew Mamu Kleshvey, or as most people call him, Mamu. According to basketball reference, he is 6 foot1, has spent the last couple of years with the San Antonio Spurs, and most people will remember him for an absolutely incredible performance that he had against the New York Knicks last season where he dropped 34 points. He went off making seven threes, had nine rebounds, only missed one shot, and he did it all in 19 minutes. The dude can flat out hoop. Now, there are a couple of layers to Mamu’s game. First and foremost, the guy is a stretch big, so he can knock down threes at a very, very good rate. He shot 37% on catch and shoot threes last season with the San Antonio Spurs, taking 147 catch-and-oot shots. Um, 60 of those were guarded, 87 of those were unguarded. He had a low volume of pull-up jumpers, but he did knock down 39% on those pull-up looks. Still decent quantity for them. He scored 1.19 points on spot-ups, which is in the 85th percentile for his position. And folks, the dude can just flat out knock down shots. Now, obviously, the Spurs didn’t have a massive role for him. Um, you know, this is a guy who was averaging 11 minutes a night. He did have certain moments and certain nights where he was giving given basically extended run, but generally his main skill set is being able to knock down shots from the perimeter. And that gives the Raptors a different look offensively than what they had before. Yes, obviously there won’t be any Chris Buchet likely on the roster anymore because Mama Kaisely is the 15th and final roster spot. Things can obviously change, but he provides that stretch big option that no one else on the roster does. He can knock down shots and that is a big big difference than what obviously Yaka Purle can do and Colin Murray Boils or Jonathan Mo. This is a guy who is a reliable shooter at the center position. But the intrigue for Mamu also comes with him being able to put down the ball. Not only is he good at knocking down shots off of spot-ups, but he’s also pretty good at attacking closeouts and using his dribble and strength to be able to get downhill and make defenses pay for overselling on those closeouts. So generally if a flyby happens or if there’s a hard close out on a three-point shot for him, he’s going to go ahead and attack the basket and make a decision with the ball. The fact that he can put the ball on the floor really makes him a Dark Ray Yakovic type of player. Mamu was also pretty good in pick and roll settings, especially as a pick and pop guy, and so he would typically be able to pop out. Of the 62 pick and roll possessions that he had last season as a role man, 39 of them were pick and pops or slipping the pick to basically pop out to the basket. That’s his main quality. The fact that he can pop out, knock down shots, but again, being able to put the ball on the floor is very important, too. And he does that pretty decently. I think he’s generally a pretty good cutter, too. Uh has good intuition just from playing international basketball of moving without the basketball. uh kind of moving, engaging, and cutting into open spaces. I think that will work well again with the Raptor system if he’s ever paired alongside another big man. Uh I think the fact that he can stretch the floor also makes it so that the Raptors can run double big lineups with him and Yakoba Purle or him and Scotty Barnes or him and Colin Murray Boils or Jonathan Mo. The Raptors have a little bit more lineup flexibility now that Mamu is on the team. Again, you have to remember this is the 15th man on the roster, so the likely scenario is that maybe he doesn’t get the playing time that you’d imagine. But there’s intrigue there for Mamu to be more than what he was for the San Antonio Spurs. I think given the Raptors offensive system of putting the ball in the big man’s hands, uh Mamu can do a lot more with the ball. Uh he’s a guy who had a positive assist to turnover ratio. uh can again just put the ball down on the floor, has a good feel for the game, and I think that makes him really intriguing. The question that I have for Mamu is on the defensive side of the ball. Uh there are moments where he falls asleep off the ball. There are moments where he gets cut back door um or he gets back cut and you know, he kind of misreads a rotation and whatnot. And so I’m curious to see how that translates onto this Raptors team. That said, there is an infrastructure there in Toronto for him to uh at least be a little bit more active defensively. I think they will force him to be more active defensively. I think that’ll be the key step moving forward. But honestly, I’m a big fan of this signing. I again, you have to take everything with a grain of salt at this point just because of the fact that uh you know, ultimately this is a guy who is 15th man. Like you’re not expecting him to be a part of the rotation, but maybe he is. Maybe there is intrigue there for him to actually crack the rotation. We saw last season when Chris Buchchet was in the lineup, the Raptors played better basketball, right? And the only reason they played that was because they were so desperately needing a guy of Chris Buchet’s skill set. The same thing applied to Kelly Oolen. They needed a big man who could one stretch the floor, two put the ball on the on the floor and make plays with it, and three just be fluid with the basketball, you know, make plays, find cutters, etc. I think there’s a world in which Mamu can be that for the Toronto Raptors. Uh especially with the fact that he can knock down shots. You know, he had a really good shooting season last year with San Antonio. Has had a couple of good shooting seasons with San Antonio generally. I think the fact that he is um I think I want to say like a tenacious guy who can put the ball on the floor. I believe he played some point guard in college. And so the intrigue there with Mamu is the fact that yes, he can run a fast break for you and make some plays. Might be chaotic a little bit, but there’s there’s potential. And to me, uh, that’s more than what you can ask for in a player who’s going to be the 15th man on the roster. Uh, folks, Sandra Mamu, Keshily, that’s your new member of the Toronto Raptor. This is a quick breakdown to talk about what to expect from Mamu, but generally the three pillars of what you can expect from Shandrew Mamu Koshily is one weird basketball. You know, when you watch him on the floor, you’re like, whoa, this is a big man who or or this is a point guard who is in a big man’s body and he does multiple different things. He puts the ball on the floor well. So, it’s intriguing to watch. You know, it’s unique. It’s fun to watch Mamu play basketball. Two, he can shoot the ball and that is obviously very important on a Raptors team that is starved of shooting outside of the Grady Dicks and Emanuel Quickleys and potentially Jacobe Walters and Ochiabazis of the world. They need shooting and Mamu could potentially be a good shooter for this team. And finally, I think there’s intrigue there as a cutter. I think there’s intrigue there as a rollman in pick and roll settings. You know, the Raptors love to run this Spain pick and roll action or double drag action where they’ll have quickly come off of two screens and one of the guys pops out. You could see the Raptors involving Mamu in sets like that where he pops out and they’ll have Scotty Barnes roll to the basket and the defense has to make a decision that way. This is the intrigue of Mamu Kaishi. That being said, let’s see what happens. I I’m in I’m in on the Mamu bandwagon. I enjoy watching Mamu hoop. I think there’s a world in which he can crack the rotation. Again, that said, it’s the 15th dude and we’re breaking down tape for the 15th dude on the roster. That’s where we are right now for the Toronto Raptors. Actually, on the back end of this, I want to talk about Yaka Purle real quick. Uh, obviously Yaka Purle got extended in this deal, and I’m sure Pullup Trey and then we’ll talk about it more. Uh, it was a 4-year extension worth $104 million. the final year uh the fourth year of that contract is going to be 5 million guaranteed and the rest is based on uh from what the reporting is based on either a date guarantee in which you know he gets to a certain point with the Raptors and the rest of it guarantees or it could be in guaranteed via incentives whether he makes an alldefense team or the Raptors make the playoffs or something along the lines of that. So uh we don’t have the details on that yet. That said, uh Jakob is on the Raptors for two more years at $19.5 million. And then basically he has two years tagged on to that at $28 million and $30 million. And there’s a final year after that that only has 5 million guaranteed and the rest would be guaranteed depending on these contract incentives. That’s a pretty good deal in my opinion for a guy who’s a starting center who is pivotal and vital for this Raptors team. I know a lot of people will talk about the expensiveness of what this Raptors team is, but truthfully guys, it does not matter if they are good. That’s all it is. Scotty Barnes has to be better and perform to his contract level. Emanuel Quickley has to be better and perform to his contract level. Brandon Ingram has to play and perform to his contract level. Same thing with Yaka Purle. And if all four of those guys do that, then yes, this Raptors team will probably be worth the money that they’re spending. But we haven’t seen it yet. And so that’s why a lot of people have this conversation of, oh well, they’re too expensive. You know, why is a team that won 30 games last year spending 80% of their salary cap on those guys plus RJ Barrett? It’s a valid question. You know, I think the Raptors are betting on this team eventually being better than what it was last season, and that’s why next season is extremely important. Pretty happy with the Yaka Purle deal. I think most people should be happy with the Yaka Purle deal. He was vital to what the Raptors uh wanted to do last season. I think he’s vital to the next successful version of this team in the playoffs. And uh truthfully, I thought he had a career year, improved as a free throw shooter. Maybe he continues to improve on that end. It’s very important for his playoff potential. Um, but yeah, big fan. I I I enjoyed the Yaka Purle extension. So, they’ve added Yaka Purle or they’ve extended Yaka Purle. They’ve added Mama Kaishe who I’m obviously intrigued by to say the least. And the other side is I guess the next thing is we’ll see if they do anything with RJ Barrett, if they trade him or you know if something happens you know by the deadline and if they extend Oi. Those are the two things that are coming up for the Toronto Raptors as well as obviously finding a president of basketball operations. Okay, folks. Again, see you guys later. Subscribe, like, do the things you guys usually do. We’ll see you later. Take care. Bye.

The Toronto Raptors have signed Sandro Mamukelashvili to a two-year contract. Can he be their back-up big next season?

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0:00 – Mamu breakdown
7:47 – Jakob Poeltl extension

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