Two players both arrive in Los Angeles with new contracts and a clear path to bigger roles, and that combination is usually where breakout seasons come from.
Most breakout seasons come down to opportunity, and the Los Angeles Lakers handed two of their summer signings a bigger job than either had a year ago.
Quentin Grimes and Sandro Mamukelashvili agreed to their deals on July 1, and both were brought in to be more than depth on a roster rebuilt around Luka Doncic after LeBron James left for Philadelphia.
Neither signing grabbed headlines the way the Walker Kessler trade did, but the minutes are there for both of them, and minutes are usually what a breakout needs.
Quentin Grimes Steps Into a Starting Job
Grimes signed a four-year, $60 million contract with a player option on the final season.
He started only 19 of his 75 games in Philadelphia last season and still averaged 13.4 points, 3.6 rebounds and 3.3 assists in 29.4 minutes a night.
In 28 games with the 76ers late in 2024-25 he averaged 21.9 points, and the Lakers are paying for that version of him.
His three-point shooting dipped to 33.4 percent last season, but he is a 36.6 percent career shooter, and playing off Doncic should bring open looks.
Grimes told ESPN Los Angeles radio in July that the role JJ Redick pitched him, a big offensive role plus a leadership role on defense, was one of the biggest selling points.
Sandro Mamukelashvili Fits Next to Luka Doncic
Mamukelashvili is the more surprising name here, because two seasons ago he was a bench big in San Antonio playing about 11 minutes a game before one season in Toronto changed his career.
He played in 80 games, shot 52.3 percent from the field and 38.9 percent from three and finished 10th in Sixth Man of the Year voting while averaging 11.2 points.
The Lakers gave him a four-year, $52 million deal with a player option on the fourth year, and there is a good chance he starts at power forward next to Kessler, who missed almost all of last season with a shoulder injury.
Some of the credit the front office is getting for this summer is tied to that pairing, a rim protector next to a big who can shoot.
He was born the same year as Doncic and sounded ready for the partnership at his first Lakers media availability.
"So now just being his teammate it's amazing and I really do think he's gonna make my life a lot easier," he said, per LakersNation.
Why the Timing Works for Both
Training camp opens on Sept. 29, and the Lakers still carry 16 standard contracts, one more than the regular season limit, so somebody will be gone before opening night, and neither of these two is anywhere near that conversation.
A former Lakers champion has already questioned whether this young group is ready for a playoff run, and that is a fair worry given who left over the summer.
Everyone already knows what Doncic and Austin Reaves are, so the answer to that doubt has to come from the next tier, and Redick, who has said this job goes beyond anything he dreamed of, has two of those players walking into camp with every reason to take a jump.
