2021-22 Thunder player grades: Mike Muscala
(Editor’s note: We are starting individual grades for all players from the 2021-22 Oklahoma City Thunder. To access other reviews as part of this ongoing series, click here.)
With the 2021-22 regular season now officially in the books, the Oklahoma City Thunder (24-58) finished their season with the fourth-best lottery odds. This means it is now time for individual player grades for all 26 players who suited up for the team this season during the 82 games. The grades will be determined by what the season expectations were for each player and how they lived up to them.
The fifteenth player in the installment is Mike Muscala, whose season was cut short due to ankle surgery.
2021-22 statistics
8.0 points, 3.0 rebounds, 0.5 assists on 45.6 percent shooting and 42.9 percent three-point shooting in 43 games.
Significant Advanced Statistics
BPM: 5.0
VORP: 1.1
3P-plus: 121
On-off net rating per 100 possessions: plus-10.4
Spot up shooter: 84.8 percentile
Pick & roll man: 96.5 percentile
Catch & shoot threes: 42.9 percent three-point shooting
Contract
2022-23: $3.5 million on a team option
Thoughts
Mike Muscala had a second straight season with the Thunder that was cut short due to injury. Muscala has now played just 78 of 154 (50.6 percent) of potential games. This time around, it was due to a nagging ankle injury that required surgery.
But in his 43 games, Muscala had his best season in terms of three-point shooting at 42.9 percent on nearly four attempts a game. Surprisingly enough, Muscala has had his best two shooting seasons of his nine season career these last two years with Oklahoma City, where he’s shot 39.8 percent on 4.4 three-point attempts. This has also been his best two scoring seasons in terms of points averaged, where he’s scored 8.8 points in a limited 16 minutes.
Muscala having a career resurrection these last two seasons is bittersweet as his career marks are going in vain as the Thunder focus on rebuilding and tanking to improve their lottery odds. But it would be wrong to place that on Muscala; at the end of the day, he’s a basketball player.
While Muscala has been a bit of a nuisance in terms of tanking, that will not be count against him with this season grade.
Final Grade
While Muscala has missed nearly half of the games and has only been limited to just 16 minutes, he has proven to be a valuable stretch big off of the bench. Off the court, Muscala has been praised for being a great leader and showing the ropes for the team’s young roster. With Muscala being the oldest player on the roster, the veteran role landed on his lap and he has ran home with it due to the amount of love he receives from his younger teammates.
While Muscala has been great for his three seasons, his future is still a bit murky. Muscala’s team option of $3.5 million isn’t a ton of money, but it is still enough that I think the Thunder should seriously sleep on. Who knows how Muscala looks like following ankle surgery and the three-point shooting can come back down to Earth a bit next season as well. But then again, the team’s payroll is so low, that they can afford to take the chance with Muscala.
Either way, I think the team ultimately picks up the team option for Muscala. But I have a hard time seeing his role next season look any differently than it’s been these last couple of seasons where he only plays limited minutes due to prioritizing player development. But that does not seem to concern Muscala as he has stated multiple times his love for the franchise and city.
Final Grade: B
