Spurs Free Agency: Sandro Mamukelashvili Re-signs on 1-Year Deal
San Antonio Spurs fans, Sandro Mamukelashvilli is back.
After failing to extend a qualifying offer to the 6-10 power forward Friday, the Spurs worked out a deal with their midseason acquisition to renew their partnership for at least one more season.
The deal, as reported by ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, is a one-year, $2 million deal, keeping him locked down until the 2024-25 season.
Despite being European, "Mamu" — as he's become known in San Antonio — was born in New York City and played college ball for Seton Hall in New Jersey. In between, however, the 24-year-old spent most of his childhood in Tbilisi, Georgia — one of the reasons coach Gregg Popovich liked him early on.
"He's European, which makes me love him right off the bat," Popovich said of the big man. "I think those guys are unbelievably well-coached and overall understand the game better than most of us here."
In just 19 games for the Spurs, Mamu proved that. He averaged 10.8 points and 2.4 assists on 34 percent 3-point shooting, becoming a strong role player down the stretch while San Antonio dealt with injury concerns to their bigger stars.
Next season, the power forward will provide some size as a big man, allowing No. 1 pick Victor Wembanyama to space the floor and score freely, but he'll also continue to develop his own scoring and facilitating in order to help propel the Spurs' offensive production.
His presence was likely to be missed sorely by Spurs fans if he wasn't returning to San Antonio — and most thought he wasn't going to after no qualifying offer was given — but now, he's set to continue to leave his mark on the young team.
And if next season goes anything like his first 19 games, he could be in a Spurs jersey for much longer after that.
You can follow Matt Guzman on Twitter and Instagram.
Want the latest in breaking news and insider information on the Spurs? Click Here.
Follow Inside the Spurs on Twitter.
Follow Inside the Spurs on Facebook.
Want even more San Antonio Spurs news? Check out the Si.com team page here.
