Mike Muscala’s journey to the NBA will start with a stop in Spain.
The Hawks’ second-round draft pick signed Wednesday to play for Blusens Monbus Obradoiro of Spain’s ACB League next season. The center announced the deal on Twitter and included a picture of the contract being signed. He also wrote, translated from Spanish, “I’m excited for the opportunity!”
The Hawks hold the rights to Muscala while he plays overseas and continues his development on and off the basketball court.
“This is a great opportunity for Mike to play for a quality program in a strong league,” Hawks general manager Danny Ferry told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “We are excited to closely monitor his growth as he further prepares himself for the NBA game.”
The Hawks’ frontcourt became crowded with the offseason signings of Paul Millsap, Elton Brand, Pero Antic and Gustavo Ayon. Those additions most likely meant that Muscala and first-round pick Lucas Nogueira would play elsewhere next season to continue their development. The Hawks have not made a final decision on where Nogueira will play, but a return to Spain remains likely.
In addition to the option of playing overseas, Muscala could have entered the NBA Development League draft and played as an unassigned player. In that case, there would have been no possibility of being called up to the NBA by another team since the Hawks hold his rights.
Udonis Haslem and Matt Bonner are two current players who went overseas before starting their NBA careers. Haslem played a season in France after the undrafted free agent was a late training-camp cut by the Hawks in 2002. Bonner played a season in Spain after being a second-round pick of the Bulls and then traded to the Raptors in 2003.
Muscala, 6-foot-11, 239 pounds, averaged 5.8 points and 5.2 rebounds in five games at the Las Vegas Summer League.
“Obviously, I have to get stronger,” Muscala told the AJC last month. “These are some of the biggest guys I’ve played against and this is just summer league. It will even more in the NBA. I knew that. I just have to continue to be confident and take a couple things from each game and try to work on them.
“At the same time I want to keep my skills. I want to keep my jump shot, my quickness, my speed, being able to run up and down the court. Danny Ferry was talking to me about (functional strength) in terms of getting stronger but not losing your style of play.”
Muscala, who played at Bucknell, was acquired by the Hawks with the 44th overall selection in June’s NBA draft as part of a trade with the Mavericks. He finished as Bucknell’s all-time leading scorer with 2,036 points. He also ranks second all-time with 1,093 rebounds and 271 blocks. He and Lehigh’s C.J. McCollum, a first-round draft pick of the Trail Blazers, traded seasons as the Patriot League Player of the Year. Muscala won as a sophomore and senior, when he was also the league’s Defensive Player of the Year.
Muscala, 22, and Nogueira, 20, would have had to fight for playing time in a crowded frontcourt that includes Al Horford and Mike Scott (non-guaranteed contract). There is a future opportunity with the Hawks as Brand and Ayon are on guaranteed contracts for one season and Millsap for two seasons.
Muscala said his ultimate goal is to play in the NBA.
“It’s always your dream to play in the NBA as a kid,” Muscala said last month. “… People always told me I could make a lot of money playing in Europe, but the biggest hurdle for me is proving I can be an NBA player and, obviously, I have a lot more work to do, but you have to be confident in yourself if you ever want that to be a possibility.”
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