Although this has been publicly known for quite some time, the three-team deal that sends Justin Anderson to Atlanta and Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot to Oklahoma has been completed. Here’d everything you need to know.
Brett Brown announced that six-year forward Mike Muscala will be joining the Sixers as part of this three team deal, while Atlanta receives Carmelo Anthony and a protected first rounder in 2022 and the Thunder attain Dennis Schröder from the Hawks.
“Mike Muscala joins our program at a fantastic stage of his career.” The Sixers Head Coach and interim GM told the media. “He has enjoyed some NBA success and his upside in the future is extremely bright,” Brown said. “We will use him both as a backup five and, at times, a power forward. His ability to shoot the ball and the energy with which he plays will help our basketball team.”
Brown is absolutely correct too. Last year, Muscala averaged 7.6 points and 4.3 boards in 20 minutes per game, while shooting .371 from beyond the arc on a career-high 3.2 attempts per game. The Sixers have taken an active approach in bringing in shooting specialists in recent years, keeping up with the growing three-point bubble that was first inflated by the Warriors and followed by the rest of the league. In fact, Muscala was one of just 14 players 6’11 or taller to make at least 60 three-pointers one year ago.
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The Sixers lose out on a developmental piece in frenchman Luwawu-Cabarrot and a player at a similar level in Justin Anderson. However Philadelphia has taken a huge step forward in refining their team to fit a common profile. The more shooters who can reliably come off the bench for names such as J.J Redick, the less of a drop-off there will be when the veteran has to leave the floor. This is after all why the Sixers have been so heavily linked with Kyle Korver.
It’s a move that sees two players who were liked by the fans simply leaving to better situations where they will see more playing time as opposed to filling seats in the Sixers bench. The trade to acquire Muscala will not only bolster the Sixers arsenal of shooters, but give the team some much needed rotational optionality.
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