The Milwaukee Bucks made a big mistake, and only now are they realizing how much they're going to pay for it. And that's because former 54th overall pick Sandro Mamukelashvili has been absolutely balling out for the Toronto Raptors this season. He's proving to be another failed Bucks draft pick that could have developed with just a little more opportunity.
Now that the former second-round pick is finally getting real minutes elsewhere, the Raptors are finding out what the Bucks never fully committed to understanding: Mamu had potential. He just needed a leash long enough to show it. Once they gave it to him, he turned into someone putting up 10.3 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 1.9 assists a night on 36.4 percent shooting from deep.
Sandro Mamukelashvili is making the Bucks regret their decision
In Toronto, Mamukelashvili is being used as a modern big, not an emergency body. He’s handling the ball at times, making quick reads, spacing the floor, and pushing pace after rebounds. Those were the same flashes Bucks fans saw in short bursts -- the grab-and-go sequences, the confidence shooting from deep, the sneaky playmaking -- but never consistently enough to matter. You can’t develop rhythm on a 3-minute shift once every two weeks.
Jon Horst and company have very well-documented problems with drafting, but this time around, Milwaukee’s problem wasn’t evaluation. It was patience. On a team chasing a title, every mistake (understandably) felt amplified, and Mamukelashvili paid for it with a one-way ticket to the bench. Miss a rotation, pull him. Take a risky pass, pull him. Meanwhile, veterans with declining mobility kept getting rope because they were “trusted.” Development died on that hill.
The shooting alone would've been valuable. Mamukelashvili could stretch defenses and add to an already deadly shooting frontcourt with Myles Turner and Bobby Portis. Add to that his passing and ball-handling, and you just have a winning player suited for modern basketball.
The irony is that this version of Mamu is exactly the kind of frontcourt piece Milwaukee keeps saying it wants now: younger, energetic, capable of playing fast, and comfortable in space. Instead, the Bucks burned through him before figuring out how to integrate skill over safety. Toronto, a team that actually treats development like an investment, is reaping the benefits.
He had potential, and that was obvious from his college tape and pre-draft scouting. Shooting touch for a big man, decent passing instincts, and enough size to play multiple frontcourt positions. Those tools don't just disappear because a player isn't immediately NBA-ready.
People pointed out Mamukelashvili's potential when he was in Milwaukee. The shooting metrics were there, the skill set was obvious. The Bucks just chose veteran name recall over young talent with upside, like they always do.
Mamu is just the latest in a long line of failed draft picks for Jon Horst. The difference here is it failed because they gave up on him too early. They could have had a promising young player had they held on for a bit more, but ultimately, they chose to waive him.
Instead, he's in Canada proving the Bucks wrong while Milwaukee scrambles to find bench scoring. The Bucks, fortunately, found development from the likes of Ryan Rollins, AJ Green, and Kevin Porter Jr., but Mamukelashvili would have helped this Bucks team tremendously.