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SALT LAKE CITY , UT – NOVEMBER 26: Walker Kessler #24 of the Utah Jazz warms up before their game against the San Antonio Spurs in the Emirates NBA Cup at the Delta Center on November 26, 2024 in Salt Lake City, Utah. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Chris Gardner\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
There is nothing secret about what the Los Angeles Lakers<\/a> have to do next. They landed rising star big man Walker Kessler<\/a> to be Luka Doncic\u2019s long-term frontcourt runningmate, but the Lakers do not have a traditional big man to turn to if Kessler misses time.\u00a0<\/p>\n Even if Kessler, who appeared in just five games for the Utah Jazz<\/a> last season, stays healthy, L.A. may be looking at having to run him into the ground with the amount of minutes he\u2019ll have to play. With all due respect, Kevon Looney<\/a> may be a three-time champion and a steady option for those Golden State Warriors<\/a> teams years ago, but he isn\u2019t someone the Lakers want to be stuck looking at if push comes to shove.<\/p>\n So, that means L.A. is exploring some free agents, maybe a few trades, right? Well\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n The Options the Lakers Have to Address the Frontcourt<\/p>\n \n Even though there are big men remaining on the open market, none of them appear to be an ideal option for the Lakers. Team insider Khobi Price mentioned Doncic\u2019s former teammate Dwight Powell<\/a> as a free-agent option, but he\u2019s 35 and on the backside of his career. Similar can be said for other options. As for a trade, there are some stumbling blocks in the way, namely L.A. possessing just one tradeable first-round pick \u2014 and that being a measly pick swap.<\/p>\n That\u2019s one reason why Lakers reporter Alex Regla notes that the team may need to designate a backup center internally, with newly signed Sandro Mamukelashvili as the best option to take on those duties<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cInstead, a more practical outcome is that Looney is used only situationally,\u201d Regla wrote for Silver Screen and Roll. \u201cWhether that\u2019s in the form of defending the post, setting a bone-crushing screen, or helping grease the wheels of the offense, his lasting impact may boil down to his veteran leadership. As a result, the Lakers will likely have to hope Sandro Mamukelashvili can allow them to go small in the minutes Kessler is off the floor. And if not, they will be forced to find someone who can effectively fill the role Looney was expected to.\u201d<\/p>\n Mamukelashvili, 27, was signed to a four-year contract worth roughly $52 million in free agency after spending last season in Toronto, where he averaged 11.2 points per game and shot an impressive 39 percent from the 3-point line in 80 games for the Raptors.<\/p>\n Mamu To the Rescue?<\/p>\n Clearly, the Lakers like what Mamukelashvili brings to the table, as evidenced by the four-year deal they handed him.<\/p>\n Mamukelashvili could provide steady minutes as the backup center \u2026 but perhaps only on one side of the ball. He is an efficient, willing scorer but doesn\u2019t nearly possess the profile of a defensive stopper or rim-protector. Heck, Mamukelashvili isn\u2019t some towering big man \u2014 he stands at a modest 6\u20199\u201d.<\/p>\n But he may be the Lakers\u2019 most feasible option considering the circumstances. While there are players out there the Lakers could target in a trade, unless they aim for a low-to-medium-tier player, they simply don\u2019t have enough in their war chest to acquire a high-impact star.<\/p>\n That\u2019s not to mention that the Lakers may need to use Mamukelashvili plenty at power forward, another position where they are rather thin.<\/p>\n Who knows. Maybe he does contribute to both positions. Maybe he becomes beloved in Laker Land for that reason.<\/p>\n So much so that the crowd establishes a\u00a0Mamuuuuu\u00a0chant every time he loads up a 3-pointer.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tAdel Ahmad<\/a> Adel is a writer with over five years of experience covering the NBA. His work has appeared on various media platforms, both national and local. More about Adel Ahmad<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty SALT LAKE CITY , UT – NOVEMBER 26: Walker Kessler #24 of the Utah Jazz warms up…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":888819,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[574],"tags":[64,63,726,85],"class_list":["post-888818","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-basketball","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-basketball","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/888818","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=888818"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/888818\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/888819"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=888818"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=888818"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=888818"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/GettyImages-2258043103.jpg\")
GettySACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA \u2013 JANUARY 21: Sandro Mamukelashvili<\/a> #54 of the Toronto Raptors<\/a> shoots the ball against the Sacramento Kings<\/a> at Golden 1 Center on January 21, 2026 in Sacramento, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw\/Getty Images)\n<\/p>\n