Mike Muscala came on in the last quarter of the 2014-15 NBA Season for the Atlanta Hawks. The former second round pick out of Bucknell University worked his way from Spain to the NBA D-League to playing sparingly in Atlanta to a major contributor in the Eastern Conference Playoffs, all in the matter of two seasons. Is Mike Muscala ready to take the next step in 2015-16?

Moose, as he is affectionately known by the Atlanta faithful, enters his third NBA season with surprisingly high expectations for a rotational big man and a former second round pick out of the Patriot League.

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Mostly because of his strong finish to last year and partly to Mike Scott‘s troubles with the law and Pero Antic returning to Europe, Mike Muscala is likely the fourth big man for the 2015-16 Atlanta Hawks behind Al Horford, Paul Millsap and Tiago Splitter.

Muscala has shown that he can thrive in Head Coach Mike Budenholzer’s system offensively with his low-post game as smooth as silk and his long-range game impressive for a stretch five. Mike Muscala anchored the Hawks’ Las Vegas Summer League team this past July, working on consistency, leadership, and his defensive prowess down low.

Heading into training camp in a few months, I feel that Mike Muscala is no worse than tenth on Coach Bud’s depth chart. The reason tenth is significant is that it essentially guarantees that Muscala will play in just about every game for the Hawks this year as a key reserve like a Kent Bazemore or a Dennis Schroder. Coach Bud usually roles ten deep in most contests.

I see Mike taking what were Pero Antic’s minutes and then some in his third year in the Association. The pace of the game as well as the increased level of competition were what Muscala had to adjust to the most in his first two seasons in the NBA. Now that neither of those thing seem like their issues to him any more, perhaps we will see Mike Muscala have a breakout year for the Atlanta Hawks coming off the bench.

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We saw Dennis Schroder’s ascension in 2014-15 after an underwhelming rookie season the year before. I feel that with every minute of experience Mike Muscala gets on the floor he improves. While we often praise Coach Bud’s staff for their roles in player development, Moose might have actually been a diamond in the rough for the Atlanta Hawks, with the only knock on him was that he played in the Patriot League collegiately as opposed to a traditional basketball powerhouse in the northeast.

When Mike Muscala finally puts it all together, he can become a very special player for our Atlanta Hawks as a crucial role player and possibly a strong spot starter if Bud needs to rest either Al Horford or Paul Millsap during the grind of an 82-game season. Watching Mike Muscala to continue to improve in 2015-16 is one of the things I’m most excited about this winter with regards to our Atlanta Hawks. Let’s Go Hawks!