NBA Draft: Why the Detroit Pistons should draft Sandro Mamukelashvili

Detroit Pistons NBA Draft:  Sandro Mamukelashvili’s player comparisons

Being a better complementary player, I see Mamukelashvili’s game as a mixture of Lamar Odom and Cliff Robinson. Odom in that he is a big that can get out an dominate on the break and is a great secondary playmaker and ball handler.  Uncle Cliffy because I think he is a big whose main weapon is his jumpshot which can give defenses problems when he’s on.

Odom was so much fun to watch as a Clipper and in his lone season on the Heat. He put up points and made highlight plays on a nightly basis, but he wasn’t able to translate his individual success into more team success when he was a featured part of the offense.

Once he moved to the Lakers, however, he was able to use his skills to complement Kobe and then later Pau Gasol to get them points whether through his playmaking, scoring, or running in transition. Mamukelashvili can do the same for NBA teams.

For those of us who have been Pistons fan a while definitely understand how vastly underrated Uncle Cliffy was. Not much of a rebounder, but a stretch 4 before that was a thing. Whether he was at the elbow, in the corners, or at the top of the key, Robinson knocked down jumpshots and had gravity as a shooter to clear the lanes for his teammates. Mamukelashvili displayed this same ability when he was the support to Powell and McKnight in his junior season.

And before I move on, Rest in Peace Clifford Robinson. You are missed.