NBA Draft: Why the Detroit Pistons should draft Sandro Mamukelashvili

Detroit Pistons NBA Draft:  Sandro Mamukelashvili’s weaknesses

The main area of improvement I see for Mamukelashvili is that he is an average to above average defender at best. He is fluid and smooth, but he is not a high-level athlete and it is clear his responsibilities have been to get buckets and create easy shots for his teammates.

He also played power forward next to a pair of seven foot two inch centers in Romaro Gill and Ike Obiago so he was almost never asked to be a rebounder or rim protector. If I were a team, I would not be asking him to do these things either as his skills are better suited away from the rim, but it is a concern as to what he will do on defense.

I personally believe he is going solid; meaning his defense won’t get him played off the court. Yet, the film shows someone who has not been asked to do much on defense so this will be something he has to work on more to find his spot on that end of the court.

While Sandro can handle the rock and play-make, he can also be reckless and turnover prone. This is really the first year he’s been THE guy on offense so there were quite a few growing pains and learning spots that lead him to turn the ball over 89 times—which is why he should be a complementary player. I think he still can handle and facilitate some, but as a secondary or tertiary option to keep defenses off balance.

Really his efficiency numbers were much better his junior season when he was a complementary player to Myles Powell and Quincy McKnight. Mamukelashvili posted a 61.3% True Shooting percentage hitting 58.5% of his two-point shots, and 43.3% of his three pointers. This highlights how much better he works as a complementary player than as a featured part of the offense.