Negatives
What the Lakers thought they may get from Muscala they did not get. Muscala shot 36.8% from three, which is decent for today’s NBA, but according to NBA.com advanced stats method, his 102.9 offensive rating and 109 defensive rating was a very poor -6.1 differential.
Ivica Zubac, for comparison, had a 107.3 offensive rating and a 105.5 defensive rating with the Clippers which was good for a +1.8 differential.
Mike Muscala didn’t do anything that made you go “wow” with his brief time with the Lakers, he had opportunities that he did not make the most of. He spaced the floor at times but not as much as hoped and his five-of-24 start from three was a detriment and his once good shoot couldn’t make up for his bad defense.
His footwork is very suspect so in the pick-and-roll defense he is basically a sitting duck out there. Although this is a bad example, it still shows how bad his positioning is shown here trying to guard Giannis Antetokounmpo on a switch.
The league is moving towards a more stretch big league, which plays perfect to Muscala’s skill set, but his fit doesn’t seem to be with the Lakers. Maybe the big stage of being in LA wasn’t meant for him, being in Atlanta he had some good seasons, not a lot of prime time games and not having big expectations.