OKC Thunder: Best Free Agency landing spots for Mike Muscala
OKC Thunder forward Mike Muscala will be an unrestricted free agent this offseason after signing a two-year minimum deal with the Thunder back in the 2019-20 offseason.
While Muscala has expressed his love of Thunder nation, the stretch-big currently occupies a position and skill set highly sought after in today’s NBA, and there could see more than just the Thunder offering a deal to the 30-year-old stretch big.
Possible landing spots for OKC Thunder fan-favorite Mike Muscala
This one is a no-brainer for the Thunder. The fans love Muscala and Muscala loves the Thunder. With little to no real size on the young roster this season, Muscala could have plenty of minutes and plenty of shots coming off the bench behind Derrick Favours, providing the Thunder the spacing to let the young guns hone their skills. With such little money on the books also, OKC could give Muscala more than just the minimum to stick around and help them reach the salary floor.
With the recent acquisition of Russell Westbrook, LA’s new big three of Russ, Lebron, and Anthony Davis take up a whole lot of cap space. To make this teamwork, they will need shooters wherever they can get them, and the recent experiment of Drummond and Harrell clogging up AD’s airspace wasn’t a success.
What they really need is a stretch big, and not one who hardly shoots anymore (38-year-old Marc Gasol.) Mike Muscala fits the bill perfectly in terms of salary expectations (vet. Minimum) and skillset. The Problem? Lakers let him go before, in 2018-19. Perhaps they give Moose a second chance.
While the Pelicans are on the hunt for a shiny new point guard, they could still use the services of another big who could stretch out to the perimeter for Zion’s monstrous drives. They created cap space with the Steven Adams trade to Memphis in the hopes of landing a max salary player. However, if that plan fails, New Orleans could use the space to upgrade the roster in other ways.
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The Heat was unceremoniously swept in the first round this year after making the 2020 NBA Finals. One of the main differences this year was their lack of three-point bombers.
Without Jae Crowder and Kelly Olynyk, the Heat had to rely on the shaky shooting of Trevor Ariza, Andre Iguodala, and Dewayne Dedmon and were disappointed.
If the Heat wants that stretch big to replace Olynyk, why not the 6’ 10” career 36.8% three-point shooter?
If the Kings are able to retain upcoming free-agent Richaun Holmes, and if they are unable to let go of Marvin Bagley III, the Kings will have a frontcourt that suffocates their talented guards.
With the recent acquisition of Tristan Thompson, another paint-bound player, the Kings could use a different look to help diversify their offense when needed.
These four teams and many others will be chasing the big names first, but if one of them has the foresight to pick up the likes of Muscala, it could prove to be worthwhile, and a good value find.
If none of these suitors come calling, OKC should happily take him back for another team-friendly, trade-friendly deal.
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