Sandro Mamukelashvili is expected to decline his $2.8 million player option for the 2026-27 season and enter unrestricted free agency after completing a two-year, $5.26 million deal signed with the Raptors in July 2025.

In 80 games during the 2025-26 regular season, the 26-year-old forward-center averaged 11.2 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 21.9 minutes per game while shooting 52.3 percent from the field, 38.9 percent from three-point range and 74.7 percent from the free-throw line. Those figures represent career highs across the board and reflect a jump from his prior per-game marks of 7.0 points and 3.7 rebounds. Teams around the league project him to command the full non-taxpayer mid-level exception or a large portion of it, a sum that would surpass the partial mid-level or bi-annual exception the Raptors could extend while remaining below the luxury tax line.

Mamukelashvili's combination of stretch-four spacing, pick-and-roll finishing and switchable defense gives Toronto a versatile second-unit piece that fits Darko Rajakovic's spacing-heavy schemes and helps cover for frontcourt injuries. His improved three-point volume creates floor spacing that opens driving lanes for guards, while his 0.5 blocks per game and rebounding in limited minutes stabilize the bench rotation against bigger frontcourts.

The Raptors' front office has prioritized staying under the luxury tax threshold, which limits their ability to use full exceptions and forces them to weigh retaining Mamukelashvili against other roster needs. Alternative backup bigs such as Dallas' Dwight Powell, the Lakers' Jaxson Hayes and Sacramento's Drew Eubanks become logical pivots if Toronto cannot match the market.

Free agency opens later this month once Mamukelashvili formally opts out, with the Raptors then needing to decide quickly whether to pursue one of the listed veterans or shift draft strategy at the No. 19 pick to address the frontcourt. A four-year deal near $60 million would represent the largest contract of his career and the type of offer other teams are positioned to extend.

Toronto's inability to retain its most productive minimum-salary addition from last summer underscores how quickly a successful low-cost signing can price itself out of a rebuild focused on flexibility.