As the Philadelphia 76ers brace for Mike Muscala to join the team in the forthcoming months, there is growing speculation concerning his role for next season. Here’s how he could have an immediate impact.
The Philadelphia 76ers acquired Mike Muscala, via three-team trade with the Atlanta Hawks and the Oklahoma City Thunder this offseason.
As part of the deal, the team bid adieu to Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot and Justin Anderson.
Neither of the departures came as much of a surprise, as the organization planned on trimming some of the more superfluous roster spots in order to heighten their value in the frontcourt – and they have done that with Muscala.
In the heat of free agency, the Sixers parted ways with their veteran power forward Ersan Ilyasova. Shortly after, they attempted to quell the disappointment to the best of their ability when they reached a mutual agreement with Nemanja Bjelica.
When it came time to sign the contract for Bjelica, however, the two parties were unable to make the deal happen — so in comes Muscala.
The 27-year-old power forward has shown vast improvement over the course of his five years in the NBA, and it appears that the Sixers are taking a chance on him at just the right time, for just the right price.
Muscala’s current contract only has one year and $5 million left on it, per Spotrac, leaving Philly with $40.6 million in practical cap space to offer a potential max deal to a superstar next summer.
In 53 games played last season with the 24-58 Hawks, Muscala averaged a career-high 7.6 points and 4.3 rebounds per game. Now on a winning roster, he could step in and perform well with a decreased workload.
Where the Bucknell product has flourished in the NBA is with his resounding shooting ability, and 6’11”, 240-pound frame. He shoots 37.8 percent from the 3-point line.
Overloaded at the guard and wing positions last season, the 76ers can finally say they have a reliable seven-footer to come in and provide some offensive relief for Joel Embiid at center. The team has experimented with nearly every one of its frontcourt players at the 5-spot, but none of them fully proved that they can be true centers — especially the undersized Richaun Holmes.
With the recent offseason trade of Holmes for cash considerations, Muscala will take over one of the valuable bench roles that has been left unoccupied. The organization has likely concluded its free agency activity for the remainder of the offseason, now that they’ve recently signed Jonah Bolden (four years, $7 million).
Bolden will also look to find minutes somewhere in the roster’s talented frontcourt next season.
Muscala could end up seeing the most minutes off the bench in the frontcourt to start the year. He presents a physicality and skill-set that the Sixers aren’t used to having. With his size, he is a versatile enough player who can make contributions at either the 4- or 5-spot on the floor.
After going through a variety of forwards and bigs in recent memory, the team could finally have a frontcourt built for any opposing team’s game plan.