Mike Muscala?

[Celtics2021]

Muscula could be a pretty solid Grant Williams replacement if some team idiotically offers more than $15 million per year.  Muscula offers similar production for $3.5 million.

https://stathead.com/basketball/pcm_finder.cgi?request=1&sum=0&player_id1=willigr01&p1yrfrom=2023&player_id2=muscami01&p2yrfrom=2023

Muscala definitely makes Grant expendable. If I had to choose between the two, think I’d prefer having Mike. He’s a superior shooter, rebounder, has better size, and can play the 4 or 5. Muscala brings more to the table, IMO.

Muscala is a fine shooter and screen-setter. I don’t want him defending Embiid or Giannis, or being switched onto a guard. Grant is a much better playoff defender.

Muscula is quite good as a defender.  Nobody wants him as the primary cover on Giannis or Embiid, but nobody wants that for Williams, either.  I’ve seen nothing to suggest that Muscala can’t handle switches.

Really?  Not even 2 weeks ago Grant held Embiid to 6-13 shooting while forcing two turnovers and giving up no assists over 40 possessions as the primary defender on Embiid.  Much of that in the second half was without the help of double teams?  He also was terrific against Giannis in the playoffs last season, and had a strong hand in Bam’s pedestrian performance for much of the conference finals last year.

Grant’s imperfect, but if he walks, Mike Muscala will not be a viable replacement.

Grant’s defense has been up and down his entire career.  No, I don’t trust him because he held an injured Embiid to a modest performance in the regular season.

Fine, but there’s even less reason to trust Muscala. There’s a reason he’s been a career backup for a decade despite being one of the best shooters for his size, and it starts with the letter “D”.

I see you haven’t followed Muscala’s career.

https://rollcallsportsnet.com/mike-muscala-is-here-to-help-your-contender/

Pretty much everywhere he’s been he’s had an excellent net rating, even on lousy teams.

Right, I like him.  But he’s also logged more than 20 minutes in a playoff game only once in his career.  His last playoff series saw him get DNPs in 5 of 7 games.  He’s fine for regular season depth — Grant has already had more playoff success in three seasons than Muscala has had in his career, and it’s not just because he was in OKC.

Muscala has barely played in the postseason. 29 games in his 10 year career and only 17 in the last 7 years. Grant played in 24 postseason games last year alone and he’s playing with a stacked roster.

Exactly my point.  He’s barely played in the postseason.  But in his last postseason run, which was only a couple of seasons ago (and Grant’s rookie year) he managed to log 5 DNP-CDs in his lone 7-game series.  For a guy who’s so great, how did he do that as a 7-year vet?  Meanwhile, Grant Williams was critical in winning 7-game second round series against the defending champions last season.  Coaches have consistently gone to Grant, even as a young player, in the postseason, while they’ve tended to stay away from Muscala, even as a vet.  There’s a reason for that.  Offensively, they’re similarly useful.  Defensively, one is superior.

[BitterJim]

Muscula could be a pretty solid Grant Williams replacement if some team idiotically offers more than $15 million per year.  Muscula offers similar production for $3.5 million.

https://stathead.com/basketball/pcm_finder.cgi?request=1&sum=0&player_id1=willigr01&p1yrfrom=2023&player_id2=muscami01&p2yrfrom=2023

Muscala definitely makes Grant expendable. If I had to choose between the two, think I’d prefer having Mike. He’s a superior shooter, rebounder, has better size, and can play the 4 or 5. Muscala brings more to the table, IMO.

Muscala is a fine shooter and screen-setter. I don’t want him defending Embiid or Giannis, or being switched onto a guard. Grant is a much better playoff defender.

Muscula is quite good as a defender.  Nobody wants him as the primary cover on Giannis or Embiid, but nobody wants that for Williams, either.  I’ve seen nothing to suggest that Muscala can’t handle switches.

Really?  Not even 2 weeks ago Grant held Embiid to 6-13 shooting while forcing two turnovers and giving up no assists over 40 possessions as the primary defender on Embiid.  Much of that in the second half was without the help of double teams?  He also was terrific against Giannis in the playoffs last season, and had a strong hand in Bam’s pedestrian performance for much of the conference finals last year.

Grant’s imperfect, but if he walks, Mike Muscala will not be a viable replacement.

Grant’s defense has been up and down his entire career.  No, I don’t trust him because he held an injured Embiid to a modest performance in the regular season.

Fine, but there’s even less reason to trust Muscala. There’s a reason he’s been a career backup for a decade despite being one of the best shooters for his size, and it starts with the letter “D”.

I see you haven’t followed Muscala’s career.

https://rollcallsportsnet.com/mike-muscala-is-here-to-help-your-contender/

Pretty much everywhere he’s been he’s had an excellent net rating, even on lousy teams.

Right, I like him.  But he’s also logged more than 20 minutes in a playoff game only once in his career.  His last playoff series saw him get DNPs in 5 of 7 games.  He’s fine for regular season depth — Grant has already had more playoff success in three seasons than Muscala has had in his career, and it’s not just because he was in OKC.

Muscala has barely played in the postseason. 29 games in his 10 year career and only 17 in the last 7 years. Grant played in 24 postseason games last year alone and he’s playing with a stacked roster.

Exactly my point.  He’s barely played in the postseason.  But in his last postseason run, which was only a couple of seasons ago (and Grant’s rookie year) he managed to log 5 DNP-CDs in his lone 7-game series.  For a guy who’s so great, how did he do that as a 7-year vet?  Meanwhile, Grant Williams was critical in winning 7-game second round series against the defending champions last season.  Coaches have consistently gone to Grant, even as a young player, in the postseason, while they’ve tended to stay away from Muscala, even as a vet.  There’s a reason for that.  Offensively, they’re similarly useful.  Defensively, one is superior.

To add some more context: out of the 46 playoff games he's been on a roster for, Muscala had DNPs in 17. He also played only 3 seconds in one game and less than 5 minutes in 7 of his 29 games. Grant has also been on a roster for 46 playoff games (fun coincidence), but has played in all 46 (though a couple were only 30 and 45 seconds), with only 3 games under 5 minutes.

The difference isn't just playoff opportunities.

[Goldstar88]

Muscula could be a pretty solid Grant Williams replacement if some team idiotically offers more than $15 million per year.  Muscula offers similar production for $3.5 million.

https://stathead.com/basketball/pcm_finder.cgi?request=1&sum=0&player_id1=willigr01&p1yrfrom=2023&player_id2=muscami01&p2yrfrom=2023

Muscala definitely makes Grant expendable. If I had to choose between the two, think I’d prefer having Mike. He’s a superior shooter, rebounder, has better size, and can play the 4 or 5. Muscala brings more to the table, IMO.

Muscala is a fine shooter and screen-setter. I don’t want him defending Embiid or Giannis, or being switched onto a guard. Grant is a much better playoff defender.

Muscula is quite good as a defender.  Nobody wants him as the primary cover on Giannis or Embiid, but nobody wants that for Williams, either.  I’ve seen nothing to suggest that Muscala can’t handle switches.

Really?  Not even 2 weeks ago Grant held Embiid to 6-13 shooting while forcing two turnovers and giving up no assists over 40 possessions as the primary defender on Embiid.  Much of that in the second half was without the help of double teams?  He also was terrific against Giannis in the playoffs last season, and had a strong hand in Bam’s pedestrian performance for much of the conference finals last year.

Grant’s imperfect, but if he walks, Mike Muscala will not be a viable replacement.

Grant’s defense has been up and down his entire career.  No, I don’t trust him because he held an injured Embiid to a modest performance in the regular season.

Fine, but there’s even less reason to trust Muscala. There’s a reason he’s been a career backup for a decade despite being one of the best shooters for his size, and it starts with the letter “D”.

I see you haven’t followed Muscala’s career.

https://rollcallsportsnet.com/mike-muscala-is-here-to-help-your-contender/

Pretty much everywhere he’s been he’s had an excellent net rating, even on lousy teams.

Right, I like him.  But he’s also logged more than 20 minutes in a playoff game only once in his career.  His last playoff series saw him get DNPs in 5 of 7 games.  He’s fine for regular season depth — Grant has already had more playoff success in three seasons than Muscala has had in his career, and it’s not just because he was in OKC.

Muscala has barely played in the postseason. 29 games in his 10 year career and only 17 in the last 7 years. Grant played in 24 postseason games last year alone and he’s playing with a stacked roster.

Exactly my point.  He’s barely played in the postseason.  But in his last postseason run, which was only a couple of seasons ago (and Grant’s rookie year) he managed to log 5 DNP-CDs in his lone 7-game series.  For a guy who’s so great, how did he do that as a 7-year vet?  Meanwhile, Grant Williams was critical in winning 7-game second round series against the defending champions last season.  Coaches have consistently gone to Grant, even as a young player, in the postseason, while they’ve tended to stay away from Muscala, even as a vet.  There’s a reason for that.  Offensively, they’re similarly useful.  Defensively, one is superior.

Well, guess we will find out in a few months whether Muscala is useful in the postseason or not. My guess is that he will be part of the rotation.

[Vermont Green]

Well, guess we will find out in a few months whether Muscala is useful in the postseason or not. My guess is that he will be part of the rotation.

This exactly.  So far, based on 3 games, Muscala has looked like he would be a useful playoff option.  But there is a way to go before you can say that definitely.  As of now, Grant Williams has proved he can be a useful playoff contributor.  Muscala has not.  We need to see how he does for the rest of the season.  Then we will know whether he can be a playoff contributor or just a towel waver.

[Roy H.]

Well, guess we will find out in a few months whether Muscala is useful in the postseason or not. My guess is that he will be part of the rotation.

This exactly.  So far, based on 3 games, Muscala has looked like he would be a useful playoff option.  But there is a way to go before you can say that definitely.  As of now, Grant Williams has proved he can be a useful playoff contributor.  Muscala has not.  We need to see how he does for the rest of the season.  Then we will know whether he can be a playoff contributor or just a towel waver.

In fairness, Williams has also proved that he can be a useless playoff contributor.  We just didn't have anybody behind him to take his minutes while he was spending more time figuring out how to trash talk Dray Green than he was performing on the court.

[Phantom255x]

I kind of think Muscala and Hauser will be deployed as those pesky sharpshooters that teams typically have in the postseason. Think guys like Reddick or Korver. Not awesome defenders but still hit some big perimeter shots off the bench and kept things ticking. But the difference was, those guys were often the 6th or 7th men off the bench. For us, they are our 9th and 10th guys. And Muscala + Hauser have size that can't be ignored. That's a good luxury to have

[Vermont Green]

Well, guess we will find out in a few months whether Muscala is useful in the postseason or not. My guess is that he will be part of the rotation.

This exactly.  So far, based on 3 games, Muscala has looked like he would be a useful playoff option.  But there is a way to go before you can say that definitely.  As of now, Grant Williams has proved he can be a useful playoff contributor.  Muscala has not.  We need to see how he does for the rest of the season.  Then we will know whether he can be a playoff contributor or just a towel waver.

In fairness, Williams has also proved that he can be a useless playoff contributor.  We just didn't have anybody behind him to take his minutes while he was spending more time figuring out how to trash talk Dray Green than he was performing on the court.

Not sure what you mean.  I view Grant as a solid #8'ish player, someone who gets regular minutes on a playoff team, but towards the end of the list of those players.  I think that is pretty well established.  Last season, 7 playoff games with double figures, several more scoring 9 pts.  Playoff career 43% from 3 in 46 games.  Sure, he had some bad games too but he is very clearly established as a playoff rotation guy.

[Roy H.]

Well, guess we will find out in a few months whether Muscala is useful in the postseason or not. My guess is that he will be part of the rotation.

This exactly.  So far, based on 3 games, Muscala has looked like he would be a useful playoff option.  But there is a way to go before you can say that definitely.  As of now, Grant Williams has proved he can be a useful playoff contributor.  Muscala has not.  We need to see how he does for the rest of the season.  Then we will know whether he can be a playoff contributor or just a towel waver.

In fairness, Williams has also proved that he can be a useless playoff contributor.  We just didn't have anybody behind him to take his minutes while he was spending more time figuring out how to trash talk Dray Green than he was performing on the court.

Not sure what you mean.  I view Grant as a solid #8'ish player, someone who gets regular minutes on a playoff team, but towards the end of the list of those players.  I think that is pretty well established.  Last season, 7 playoff games with double figures, several more scoring 9 pts.  Playoff career 43% from 3 in 46 games.  Sure, he had some bad games too but he is very clearly established as a playoff rotation guy.

Last season's Finals: 

Game 1:  0 points (-6)
Game 2:  6 points (-10)
Game 3: 10 points (+10)
Game 4: 3 points (-10)
Game 5: 3 points (-18)
Game 6: 3 points (-18)

Overall:  4.2 points, 2.3 rebounds, 1.0 assists, -55

That's the series in which he bragged about spending extra time doing research to trash talk Green.  If we had any depth at all, Grant would have -- and should have -- been benched.

And, it's not like the Finals was a total anomaly.  He played well against Milwaukee in Games 2 and Game 7.  In Games 3 through 6, he shot a collective 5-for-24, including 2-for-14 from 3PT.

Against Miami, in Games 3 through 6, he shot 5-for-21, with a slightly more respectable 4-for-13 from 3PT.

Grant has played minutes in the playoffs.  I'm not sure if I'd consider them reliable minutes, though.

[Goldstar88]

I kind of think Muscala and Hauser will be deployed as those pesky sharpshooters that teams typically have in the postseason. Think guys like Reddick or Korver. Not awesome defenders but still hit some big perimeter shots off the bench and kept things ticking. But the difference was, those guys were often the 6th or 7th men off the bench. For us, they are our 9th and 10th guys. And Muscala + Hauser have size that can't be ignored. That's a good luxury to have

Muscala brings a lot more to the table than Hauser does. Mike has been a rotation player for basically his entire career.

[tonydelk]

Well, guess we will find out in a few months whether Muscala is useful in the postseason or not. My guess is that he will be part of the rotation.

This exactly.  So far, based on 3 games, Muscala has looked like he would be a useful playoff option.  But there is a way to go before you can say that definitely.  As of now, Grant Williams has proved he can be a useful playoff contributor.  Muscala has not.  We need to see how he does for the rest of the season.  Then we will know whether he can be a playoff contributor or just a towel waver.

In fairness, Williams has also proved that he can be a useless playoff contributor.  We just didn't have anybody behind him to take his minutes while he was spending more time figuring out how to trash talk Dray Green than he was performing on the court.

Not sure what you mean.  I view Grant as a solid #8'ish player, someone who gets regular minutes on a playoff team, but towards the end of the list of those players.  I think that is pretty well established.  Last season, 7 playoff games with double figures, several more scoring 9 pts.  Playoff career 43% from 3 in 46 games.  Sure, he had some bad games too but he is very clearly established as a playoff rotation guy.

Last season's Finals: 

Game 1:  0 points (-6)
Game 2:  6 points (-10)
Game 3: 10 points (+10)
Game 4: 3 points (-10)
Game 5: 3 points (-18)
Game 6: 3 points (-18)

Overall:  4.2 points, 2.3 rebounds, 1.0 assists, -55

That's the series in which he bragged about spending extra time doing research to trash talk Green.  If we had any depth at all, Grant would have -- and should have -- been benched.

And, it's not like the Finals was a total anomaly.  He played well against Milwaukee in Games 2 and Game 7.  In Games 3 through 6, he shot a collective 5-for-24, including 2-for-14 from 3PT.

Against Miami, in Games 3 through 6, he shot 5-for-21, with a slightly more respectable 4-for-13 from 3PT.

Grant has played minutes in the playoffs.  I'm not sure if I'd consider them reliable minutes, though.

Grants Playoff production this year will definitely determine if he's resigned in the offseason IMO. 

If he has another poor playoffs what reason will the team have to resign him?  14-20m for a rotational regular season piece with the hefty tax bill.  I think not.

[Goldstar88]

Well, guess we will find out in a few months whether Muscala is useful in the postseason or not. My guess is that he will be part of the rotation.

This exactly.  So far, based on 3 games, Muscala has looked like he would be a useful playoff option.  But there is a way to go before you can say that definitely.  As of now, Grant Williams has proved he can be a useful playoff contributor.  Muscala has not.  We need to see how he does for the rest of the season.  Then we will know whether he can be a playoff contributor or just a towel waver.

In fairness, Williams has also proved that he can be a useless playoff contributor.  We just didn't have anybody behind him to take his minutes while he was spending more time figuring out how to trash talk Dray Green than he was performing on the court.

Not sure what you mean.  I view Grant as a solid #8'ish player, someone who gets regular minutes on a playoff team, but towards the end of the list of those players.  I think that is pretty well established.  Last season, 7 playoff games with double figures, several more scoring 9 pts.  Playoff career 43% from 3 in 46 games.  Sure, he had some bad games too but he is very clearly established as a playoff rotation guy.

Last season's Finals: 

Game 1:  0 points (-6)
Game 2:  6 points (-10)
Game 3: 10 points (+10)
Game 4: 3 points (-10)
Game 5: 3 points (-18)
Game 6: 3 points (-18)

Overall:  4.2 points, 2.3 rebounds, 1.0 assists, -55

That's the series in which he bragged about spending extra time doing research to trash talk Green.  If we had any depth at all, Grant would have -- and should have -- been benched.

And, it's not like the Finals was a total anomaly.  He played well against Milwaukee in Games 2 and Game 7.  In Games 3 through 6, he shot a collective 5-for-24, including 2-for-14 from 3PT.

Against Miami, in Games 3 through 6, he shot 5-for-21, with a slightly more respectable 4-for-13 from 3PT.

Grant has played minutes in the playoffs.  I'm not sure if I'd consider them reliable minutes, though.

Grants Playoff production this year will definitely determine if he's resigned in the offseason IMO. 

If he has another poor playoffs what reason will the team have to resign him?  14-20m for a rotational regular season piece with the hefty tax bill.  I think not.

Grants regular season production hasn’t even been good this year. Defense has looked decent some games, others not so much. With Mike on the team and signed through next year, there’s no way the team should be paying G-Will more than $10M/annually. His game is just too limited. He is definitely not a replacement for Horford or a starting caliber player.

Grant per36: 11.3/6.2rebs

Muscala per36: 18.9pts/ 6.6rebs

[Moranis]

Who is going to pay Grant more than the MLE?  What team with cap space thinks Grant Williams is the answer?

[Vermont Green]

Well, guess we will find out in a few months whether Muscala is useful in the postseason or not. My guess is that he will be part of the rotation.

This exactly.  So far, based on 3 games, Muscala has looked like he would be a useful playoff option.  But there is a way to go before you can say that definitely.  As of now, Grant Williams has proved he can be a useful playoff contributor.  Muscala has not.  We need to see how he does for the rest of the season.  Then we will know whether he can be a playoff contributor or just a towel waver.

In fairness, Williams has also proved that he can be a useless playoff contributor.  We just didn't have anybody behind him to take his minutes while he was spending more time figuring out how to trash talk Dray Green than he was performing on the court.

Not sure what you mean.  I view Grant as a solid #8'ish player, someone who gets regular minutes on a playoff team, but towards the end of the list of those players.  I think that is pretty well established.  Last season, 7 playoff games with double figures, several more scoring 9 pts.  Playoff career 43% from 3 in 46 games.  Sure, he had some bad games too but he is very clearly established as a playoff rotation guy.

Last season's Finals: 

Game 1:  0 points (-6)
Game 2:  6 points (-10)
Game 3: 10 points (+10)
Game 4: 3 points (-10)
Game 5: 3 points (-18)
Game 6: 3 points (-18)

Overall:  4.2 points, 2.3 rebounds, 1.0 assists, -55

That's the series in which he bragged about spending extra time doing research to trash talk Green.  If we had any depth at all, Grant would have -- and should have -- been benched.

And, it's not like the Finals was a total anomaly.  He played well against Milwaukee in Games 2 and Game 7.  In Games 3 through 6, he shot a collective 5-for-24, including 2-for-14 from 3PT.

Against Miami, in Games 3 through 6, he shot 5-for-21, with a slightly more respectable 4-for-13 from 3PT.

Grant has played minutes in the playoffs.  I'm not sure if I'd consider them reliable minutes, though.

Grant was +3 overall in the playoffs last year.  So he was +58 before the finals and -55 in the finals.  Clearly the Finals was too big of a moment for him.  But he was not alone.    Derrick White was -62 in the finals, Horford -27 and Tatum -21.  Overall, Grant was a solid bench player in the playoffs (+3 overall) and he will be again this year.  That is not to say that it wouldn't be nice to have someone better, and maybe Muscala will be better.  Right now though, Grant will be in the playoff rotation and I think he will be better for the finals experience.

[Roy H.]

Well, guess we will find out in a few months whether Muscala is useful in the postseason or not. My guess is that he will be part of the rotation.

This exactly.  So far, based on 3 games, Muscala has looked like he would be a useful playoff option.  But there is a way to go before you can say that definitely.  As of now, Grant Williams has proved he can be a useful playoff contributor.  Muscala has not.  We need to see how he does for the rest of the season.  Then we will know whether he can be a playoff contributor or just a towel waver.

In fairness, Williams has also proved that he can be a useless playoff contributor.  We just didn't have anybody behind him to take his minutes while he was spending more time figuring out how to trash talk Dray Green than he was performing on the court.

Not sure what you mean.  I view Grant as a solid #8'ish player, someone who gets regular minutes on a playoff team, but towards the end of the list of those players.  I think that is pretty well established.  Last season, 7 playoff games with double figures, several more scoring 9 pts.  Playoff career 43% from 3 in 46 games.  Sure, he had some bad games too but he is very clearly established as a playoff rotation guy.

Last season's Finals: 

Game 1:  0 points (-6)
Game 2:  6 points (-10)
Game 3: 10 points (+10)
Game 4: 3 points (-10)
Game 5: 3 points (-18)
Game 6: 3 points (-18)

Overall:  4.2 points, 2.3 rebounds, 1.0 assists, -55

That's the series in which he bragged about spending extra time doing research to trash talk Green.  If we had any depth at all, Grant would have -- and should have -- been benched.

And, it's not like the Finals was a total anomaly.  He played well against Milwaukee in Games 2 and Game 7.  In Games 3 through 6, he shot a collective 5-for-24, including 2-for-14 from 3PT.

Against Miami, in Games 3 through 6, he shot 5-for-21, with a slightly more respectable 4-for-13 from 3PT.

Grant has played minutes in the playoffs.  I'm not sure if I'd consider them reliable minutes, though.

Grant was +3 overall in the playoffs last year.  So he was +58 before the finals and -55 in the finals.  Clearly the Finals was too big of a moment for him.  But he was not alone.    Derrick White was -62 in the finals, Horford -27 and Tatum -21.  Overall, Grant was a solid bench player in the playoffs (+3 overall) and he will be again this year.  That is not to say that it wouldn't be nice to have someone better, and maybe Muscala will be better.  Right now though, Grant will be in the playoff rotation and I think he will be better for the finals experience.

Another way of looking at it:  Grant was +62 in two games during two blowouts during last year's playoffs.  During all other games, he was -59.

[Goldstar88]

Who is going to pay Grant more than the MLE?  What team with cap space thinks Grant Williams is the answer?

Good question. He might have made a huge mistake not taking the C’s extension offer. Could be another Dennis Schroder situation.