Seton Hall Professional Athletes

When the Lakers handed Sandro Mamukelashvili a four-year, $52 million deal this past July, the reaction around the league was mostly a shrug. By mid-October, his new teammates are running out of superlatives.

The Seton Hall product — a 6-foot-10 forward with point-guard instincts — has been one of the most talked-about names in Lakers camp ahead of the 2026-27 season opener. The buzz isn't manufactured. It's coming from the top of the roster.

The Luka and AR Endorsement

Luka Doncic, now the unquestioned franchise centerpiece in Los Angeles following LeBron James' departure, has spoken glowingly about Mamukelashvili's feel for the game. But it's Austin Reaves who may have offered the most striking assessment: the veteran guard is convinced Mamukelashvili "can play the 1." That's not bench-piece language. That's starter conversation — and head coach JJ Redick has echoed the sentiment publicly.

Reaves elaborated further, describing Mamukelashvili as a "do-it-all playmaking point guard" in a 6-foot-10 frame — a descriptor that calls to mind the kind of positionless versatility that defines modern NBA offense. The Lamar Odom comparisons floating around Lakers circles aren't accidental; the organization appears to view him as a connector piece capable of operating anywhere on the floor alongside Doncic and Reaves.

From Toronto to the Starter Conversation

Mamukelashvili arrived in LA off a breakout season with the Toronto Raptors, where he received Sixth Player of the Year Award votes. That track record of production off the bench made the $52M deal a mild surprise, but his preseason showing has quickly reframed the question. He turned heads in a preseason win over the Sacramento Kings, flashing the versatility and IQ that have coaches buzzing, and has reportedly "locked down his spot" in the rotation before a regular-season game has even been played.

The fifth starting spot remains officially open — Matisse Thybulle, Ziaire Williams, and Jake LaRavia are also in the mix — but Mamukelashvili's preseason momentum has made him the frontrunner. With Walker Kessler sidelined by a finger injury, the Georgian native has also helped ease concerns about frontcourt depth.

Mamukelashvili has been candid about what's driving his fast start: trust. He's spoken openly about how the confidence shown by teammates and coaches has allowed him to play freely — and it shows.

The Bigger Picture for Pirates Fans

For Seton Hall alumni, Mamukelashvili's rise is a genuine feel-good story. The Pirates big man went undrafted in 2021, carved out a role in Milwaukee, then quietly blossomed in Toronto. Now he's on the league's most-watched roster, playing alongside a generational talent, and generating legitimate starter buzz before the calendar even hits regular season.

The other Seton Hall alumni in the league — Jared Rhoden (Raptors) and Kadary Richmond (Cavaliers) — are still working to establish themselves at the NBA level. But right now, all eyes are on Mamukelashvili. South Orange's finest is making Los Angeles take notice.

Sandro Mamukelashvili didn't come to Los Angeles to blend into the background. The Seton Hall product — now a Laker — is emerging as one of the more compelling storylines of the NBA preseason, putting up big performances alongside Luka Dončić and positioning himself as a legitimate candidate for a starting forward spot.

The Starting Conversation Is Real

The power forward role in JJ Redick's rotation remains unsettled heading into the season. Mamukelashvili is in direct competition with Jake LaRavia for that starting spot — a battle that's being taken seriously inside the organization. That's not nothing for a player who entered camp with something to prove.

The early returns have been encouraging. When the Lakers downed the Kings in a preseason matchup, it was Dončić and Mamukelashvili who led the charge — "Mamu" turning in a big scoring night that had Lakers observers paying closer attention. Sharing a box score headline with Dončić will do wonders for a player's profile.

The Connector

What makes Mamukelashvili's case compelling isn't just scoring — it's how he fits. He's described himself simply as "a basketball player," and that versatility is exactly what the Lakers appear to value. He's been credited with boosting offensive connectivity, helping facilitate the kind of ball movement that makes Austin Reaves and Dončić more dangerous. In a system built around Luka's creation, a forward who reads the game and moves the ball rather than stalling it is invaluable.

Mamukelashvili has also been floated as a backup option at center — providing Redick flexibility in how he deploys the frontcourt, particularly given uncertainty around Walker Kessler's workload and availability.

A Laker Fan Living the Dream

There's a personal dimension here too. Mamukelashvili grew up watching Kobe Bryant and the Lakers — and now he's suiting up in gold and purple for real. That kind of narrative tends to resonate in a city that still runs on Kobe mythology. Whether it helps him stick in the rotation is another matter, but it doesn't hurt his likability with a fanbase that rewards players who get it.

For Seton Hall alumni tracking his career arc — from the Pirates to now competing for a starting role on one of the league's marquee franchises — this is a genuinely exciting moment. The preseason isn't everything, but Mamukelashvili is doing everything right to force the conversation into the regular season.

Seton Hall's most intriguing NBA story this week isn't coming out of New Jersey — it's unfolding under the bright lights of Los Angeles, where former Pirates forward Sandro Mamukelashvili is turning heads at Lakers training camp ahead of the 2026-27 season.

The 6'10" big man arrived in L.A. as a relatively low-profile addition, but his first impressions have been anything but quiet. At Lakers media day, Mamukelashvili was described as perhaps the newcomer most eager to share the floor with superstar point guard Luka Doncic — and the feeling, by all accounts, is mutual in terms of fit. His combination of size, perimeter shooting, and playmaking ability makes him a natural complement to Doncic's orchestration-heavy game, and the Lakers' coaching staff appears to have a defined vision for how he slots in.

Head coach JJ Redick enters camp with three starters locked in — Doncic, Austin Reaves, and center Walker Kessler — leaving two spots genuinely open. Mamukelashvili is firmly in the conversation for one of them. More telling than the competition, though, is the role being carved out for him: a "connector" who can operate on the perimeter, make reads off Doncic's gravity, and stretch opposing defenses with his three-point shooting. It's a deceptively valuable archetype in modern NBA offenses, and Mamukelashvili has publicly embraced it rather than lobbying for a flashier designation.

That buy-in matters. The Lakers are building around a Doncic-led system that demands versatile, high-IQ role players — not just athletes. Mamukelashvili's willingness to define himself within that structure, rather than outside it, is exactly what Redick is looking for in a roster still finding its identity.

Fan excitement around the newcomer class — Mamukelashvili and wing Ziaire Williams chief among them — has given Lakers faithful a genuine reason for optimism beyond the Doncic hype. Neither is expected to be a star in the traditional sense, but both carry upside that could develop meaningfully within a winning environment.

For Seton Hall alumni, this is the kind of moment worth watching closely. Mamukelashvili has spent his early NBA career bouncing between rosters and proving his value in limited minutes. A landing spot with the Lakers — one of the league's marquee franchises, playing alongside one of its two or three best players — represents the clearest path yet to establishing himself as a legitimate rotation piece, if not a starter, at the highest level.

Training camp is where reputations get built or buried. Through the first week of the 2026-27 cycle, Mamukelashvili is doing the former.

Sandro Mamukelashvili is heading to Hollywood — and the basketball world is paying attention.

The Seton Hall product inked a new deal with the Los Angeles Lakers this offseason, joining a significantly revamped roster that also added Walker Kessler, Quentin Grimes, and Austin Reaves to the mix. For a franchise rebuilding its identity under first-year head coach JJ Redick, Mamukelashvili arrives as one of the more intriguing wild cards in the bunch.

The X-Factor Label

Redick himself has spotlighted the 6'9" Georgian big man as a potential difference-maker in the Lakers' 2026-27 rotation. That kind of endorsement from a head coach before training camp even opens carries real weight. Analysts at Heavy Sports echoed the sentiment, calling Mamukelashvili a "sneaky amazing" addition whose combination of size, floor-spacing, and three-point shooting accuracy gives the Lakers a positional versatility they've lacked in recent years.

The Sporting News framed it plainly: Mamukelashvili could be the team's X-factor. That's a significant billing for a player who, until now, has operated largely in reserve roles across his NBA career.

The Cautionary Notes

Not everyone is projecting a straight line to stardom. Heavy Sports also reported that Mamukelashvili is already being tipped for a bench role before his Lakers career officially begins, with analysts drawing comparisons to Deandre Ayton — a player with obvious offensive tools who has nonetheless struggled to cement a consistent starting spot at the NBA level. The implication: the upside is real, but so is the ceiling on opportunity depending on how the rotation shakes out.

Bleacher Report's breakdown of the Lakers' trade targets further contextualized where Mamukelashvili fits — as one of several new contract signings the franchise is banking on, rather than a foundational cornerstone. The Lakers have already committed significant draft capital — multiple first-round picks — to acquire Kessler from Utah, which signals where the front office's priorities lie. Mamukelashvili's role, at least initially, may hinge on how that frontcourt hierarchy settles.

The Seton Hall Thread

For Pirates fans, this is a moment worth savoring. Mamukelashvili — who developed his college game in South Orange before going on to a career that's included stops across the NBA — now has the highest-profile platform of his professional life. Whether he seizes it or gets swallowed by the depth chart is the question that will define his 2026-27 season.

Mamukelashvili isn't alone among active Seton Hall alumni at the NBA level. Jared Rhoden is on the Toronto Raptors and Kadary Richmond is with the Washington Wizards, giving the program three representatives across the league heading into the new season. But none carry the buzz that Mamukelashvili does right now.

The Lakers open 2026-27 with more questions than answers. For one Seton Hall alum, that uncertainty is exactly the kind of opening worth fighting for.