5 things to know about new Celtics center Mike Muscala
Boston trades two second-round picks and Justin Jackson to Oklahoma City.
While rumors circled about the Celtics trading for Jakob Poeltl or reuniting with Kelly Olynyk, in the end the center they nabbed at the NBA trade deadline was Mike Muscala.
Boston sent Oklahoma City two second-round picks and Justin Jackson in exchange for the 31-year-old big man. While he isn’t the flashiest of names, Muscala does fill some needs on this Celtics roster.
Let’s take a look at what Muscala is bringing with him to Boston.
He loves the 3-ball.
Muscala holds a career mark of 37.9 percent on shots made from deep. That figure is higher than every Celtic except for Malcolm Brogdon, Grant Williams, and Sam Hauser.
Yes, Mike Muscala is a better career 3-point shooter than Jayson Tatum, Al Horford, and Jaylen Brown.
His numbers aren’t just on a couple of shots here and there either. The 6-foot-10-inch center loves taking shots from beyond the arc. Ever since the 2017-18 season, Muscala has taken more shots from beyond the perimeter than from inside of it.
He started off his career rarely shooting the ball but ever since 2016-17, when he hit 42 percent of his threes on 1.6 attempts per game, he’s thrived shooting from deep.
In the last three seasons, he’s averaged 5.3, 3.8, and 3.3 shots from beyond the arc per game.
The center isn’t a bad shooter inside the arch either. For his career he shoots 54.5 percent on twos, and his career true shooting percentage of 58.9 percent is top 20 among active players in the NBA.
Muscala’s shooting will add to a Celtics team that currently sits seventh in the NBA in 3-point percentage but has gotten very little floor spacing from the backup center position.
Luke Kornet, a common sub in Boston’s front court, is essentially a non=shooter.
He’s a plus paint defender.
While Muscala may make the most noise for the Celtics shooting the ball, he’s no slouch on the defensive end either.
His career block rate of 2.7 percent is in the top 25 among active players, and for his career he averages 1.5 blocks per 100 possessions.
The advanced numbers also present Muscala as a solid contributor on defense, where he has 8.1 career defensive win shares and is above average in defensive box plus/minus.
He’s a solid rebounder.
Muscala doesn’t bring the biggest size at the center position but that doesn’t mean he can’t grab rebounds with the best of them. His career defensive rebounding percentage and total rebounding percentage are both in the top 30 for active players. His 5.7 percent offensive rebounding mark is also respectable, right around Giannis Antetokounmpo and P.J. Tucker.
For his career he grabs exactly 10 rebounds per 100 possessions, and this season for the Thunder he’s been right around that mark.
This season the Celtics haven’t had much trouble on the glass (they’re currently sitting sixth in the league in rebounds per game), especially since Rob Williams came back. It never hurts however to have more players to get rebounds, though, and Muscala should help when Williams or Horford is on the bench.
He has playoff experience.
While the Celtics have become battle tested in the playoffs over the last few years, it never hurts to have another player with postseason experience.
Muscala started off his career playing in four straight playoffs with the Hawks. He was teammates with Horford for the first of those three seasons, often serving as his backup, which he will most likely end up doing again for the Celtics in this year’s postseason.
Muscala also saw brief playoff action in his first year with the Thunder during the 2019-20 season.
In total Muscala has seen action in 29 career playoffs games, including four games in the 2015 Eastern Conference Finals.
He can’t always stay on the court.
While Muscala has shown he’s an effective player throughout his career, he’s struggled to stay on the court enough to have a consistent impact.
During his 10 years in the NBA, Muscala has been hampered by a number of ankle injuries and other problems with his body, from concussions to finger injuries.
This season Muscala has been relatively healthy, playing in 43 of the Thunder’s 54 games. Over the previous nine seasons however, Muscala played 70 games in a season only once, and played in fewer than 55 games seven times.
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