Seton Hall Professional Athletes

The Pirate Who Landed in La-La Land

Sandro Mamukelashvili has never lacked for confidence — and now he has the contract to match it. The former Seton Hall forward signed a four-year deal with the Los Angeles Lakers this offseason, one of the splashier under-the-radar moves of the NBA summer and a significant leap for the 26-year-old who spent last season with the Toronto Raptors.

The buzz around "Mamu" isn't just about the ink on the contract. It's about where he's landed and who he's linking up with.

Slovenia, Luka, and Early Good Vibes

Before training camp officially opens, Mamukelashvili has already been putting in work — literally overseas. The Seton Hall product joined Luka Doncic and a contingent of Lakers teammates for an informal minicamp in Slovenia, Doncic's home country, and came away sounding like a man who likes what he sees.

Per reports from both Sports Illustrated and ClutchPoints, Mamukelashvili offered an encouraging read on the new-look roster's early chemistry, describing the trip as a genuine bonding experience rather than a glorified vacation. Getting face time with Doncic before a single preseason game has been played is no small thing — the kind of early buy-in that can accelerate a role player's integration into a star-driven system.

Why the Fit Makes Sense

The skeptic's question is fair: why a four-year commitment for a forward who's never averaged more than a modest line across an NBA season? Yahoo Sports made the case this week that Mamukelashvili is a "sneaky amazing" signing — a stretch big who can space the floor for Doncic's drive-and-kick game and handle the defensive versatility demands that modern NBA playoff basketball requires. In a system built around a ball-dominant superstar, a smart, unselfish forward who knows his lane can be worth far more than his name recognition suggests.

The Lakers are betting that Mamukelashvili is exactly that kind of x-factor. His ability to shoot from the perimeter while offering interior flexibility gives head coach JJ Redick options he didn't have last year.

The Bigger Seton Hall Story

Mamukelashvili isn't the only Pirate active in the league. Jared Rhoden remains with the Toronto Raptors as a shooting guard, and Kadary Richmond is on the Washington Wizards' roster at center — though neither generated the kind of offseason momentum that Mamu's Lakers move did.

For Seton Hall fans, this is the week to pay attention. A guy who played in South Orange, New Jersey is now suiting up alongside one of the five best players on the planet, and by all early accounts, he's already made himself at home. The Pirates have had their share of NBA alumni over the years, but a four-year deal with the Lakers — one of the league's most scrutinized franchises — is a different tier entirely.

Training camp will tell a more complete story. But the Slovenia dispatches suggest Mamukelashvili isn't walking into Hollywood wide-eyed. He's walking in ready.

Seton Hall's NBA footprint got a marquee address this week. Sandro Mamukelashvili has signed with the Los Angeles Lakers, giving the Pirates a representative on one of the league's most-watched rosters as the 2026-27 season takes shape.

The Georgian-born forward — a standout during his three seasons in South Orange — joins a Lakers squad still working through its offseason roster construction. According to Heavy Sports, the team had targeted a higher-profile wing addition and came up short in its pursuit of Jonathan Kuminga, who is expected to land elsewhere. That miss leaves Los Angeles leaning on its available depth pieces, with Mamukelashvili and newly-signed Quentin Grimes cited specifically as part of that contingency plan.

It's a role-player opportunity rather than a featured one, but it's the Lakers — and in the NBA, context matters. Mamukelashvili has carved out a professional path on the strength of his versatility as a stretch big who can operate on the perimeter, a profile that fits reasonably well alongside a Lakers frontcourt still built around star power. Whether he logs meaningful minutes will depend on how the roster shakes out before opening night, but the signing keeps him in a major market with playoff aspirations.

The Rest of the Pirate Pack

Mamukelashvili isn't the only Seton Hall product on an NBA payroll. Jared Rhoden is with the Toronto Raptors, while Kadary Richmond is rostered by the Washington Wizards. Neither Rhoden nor Richmond generated news during this period, but the fact that three Pirates are holding NBA spots simultaneously — spanning a contender, a rebuilding team, and a lottery-bound squad — reflects the program's recent run of professional development under head coach Shaheen Holloway.

For a mid-major program in the Big East, getting three players into the league at the same time is no small feat. Mamukelashvili's Lakers deal is the splashiest of the three, both because of the franchise's profile and because it came during a week when Los Angeles was clearly still hunting for more. That's a vote of confidence, however measured, from a front office that had bigger targets in mind.

Seton Hall fans have reason to track the Lakers' preseason with more than passing interest this fall.

Seton Hall in the NBA | Aug. 16–22, 2026

Sandro Mamukelashvili is heading to Hollywood — and the Los Angeles Lakers may have just found the missing piece their frontcourt has been crying out for.

The former Seton Hall big man has signed with the Lakers, stepping into a stretch-five role that the franchise conspicuously lacked last season. For a team that perennially hunts floor spacing around its star talent, Mamukelashvili's ability to stretch defenses from the five spot is exactly the kind of modern frontcourt weapon that can change how an offense breathes.

Mamukelashvili, who developed into one of the more versatile bigs in the Pirates' recent history before making his NBA mark, brings a skill set that checks a specific, valuable box: he can park himself behind the arc, draw shot-blocking bigs away from the paint, and open driving lanes for whoever is running the offense. The Lakers went without a consistent option in that mold last year, and it showed. Now they have one — and he's a Pirate.

It's a significant moment for Seton Hall's NBA pipeline. The South Orange program has quietly built a reputation for producing pro-ready talent, and Mamukelashvili landing on one of the league's marquee franchises only amplifies that narrative. This isn't a depth-chart afterthought signing; it's a targeted acquisition to solve a real problem on a team with championship ambitions.

Around the League

Elsewhere, Jared Rhoden continues his tenure with the Toronto Raptors at shooting guard, while Kadary Richmond is on the Wizards roster at center. Neither generated notable news during this stretch, but both represent the broadening footprint of Seton Hall alumni across NBA rosters heading into the 2026–27 season.

Three Pirates in the league simultaneously is no accident. It reflects the program's sustained ability to develop players who translate — and with Mamukelashvili now under the Lakers' bright lights, the Seton Hall name will get a higher-profile platform than it's had in some time.

Keep an eye on how the Lakers' system deploys Mamukelashvili early in the preseason. If the Lakers use him the way his skill set suggests — as a floor-spacing anchor who can switch defensively and punish close-outs — Seton Hall fans will have plenty of reasons to tune into Laker games this fall.