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Atlanta Hawks 2017-18 Season Grades: Mike Muscala

By Dallin Duffy

SACRAMENTO, CA - MARCH 22: Mike Muscala #31 of the Atlanta Hawks runs onto the court prior or the game against the Sacramento Kings on March 22, 2018 at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California. 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 Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images)
SACRAMENTO, CA - MARCH 22: Mike Muscala #31 of the Atlanta Hawks runs onto the court prior or the game against the Sacramento Kings on March 22, 2018 at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California. 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 Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Mike Muscala entered the year as one of the longest-tenured players on the Atlanta Hawks roster. In his fifth season, the center had an opportunity to move himself further into the rotation because of the talent that had diminished over the past few years.

He did get more minutes (career-high 20.0 MPG) but he didn’t make particularly major strides in any area. In fact,  he may have even been less effective on offense. While playing 3 more minutes per game, he averaged 1.1 more field goal attempts and only made 2.7 a contest, compared to 2.4 the previous season.

He did continue to make strides in the three-point department, something he’s improved each season since his rookie campaign. He took 3.2 treys a game this season at a decent 37%. This was a stark increase in attempts from beyond the arc in the past, as in previous seasons, he averaged 0.2, 0.6, 0.7 and 1.6 shots per game.

While it’s always nice to have a stretch big man on the court, his shooting wasn’t an overt improvement on teammate Dewayne Dedmon’s performance, who overshadowed him in almost every other aspect, especially scoring in the paint, and DD should be rewarded in the offseason with a larger contract (on another team).

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Defensively, he’s never been too gifted. The 26-year-old center averaged .5 blocks a game this season, on par with his career average, which with the added minutes is a bit of a disappointment. At seasons end he had a defensive win share rating of 0.9, which ranked seventh on the Hawks, including being behind fellow big men John Collins, Dewayne Dedmon and Ersan Ilyasova, but above Miles Plumlee and Tyler Cavanaugh.

It’s also incredibly easy to find clips of Mike being embarrassed on defense:

His 6-11 frame should make for some good opportunities to clean up the boards. Unfortunately, this is not the case. He pulled down just 7.8 rebounds per 36 minutes, which ranks a dismal 97th out of 113 qualified (100+ total minutes played) centers.

All in all, Muscala is a decent scoring center, and not much else. He’s an average defender that fails to turn his height into many rebounds. He can shoot the three-ball, which is a nice trait for a nearly seven footer to have, but while the big man can knock down jumpers, his inside scoring is not exactly awe-inspiring.

This season, with no Al Horford or Dwight Howard keeping Muscala on the bench, he had a nice opportunity to have a breakout season.

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Despite that, it seems like we’ve likely seen his ceiling. He’s an average– if not slightly below average– center and he showed exactly that this season.

2017-18 Season Grade: C-

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