Sports

Reports: Pistons to buy out Mike Muscalla, making him free agent

Detroit Pistons v Cleveland Cavaliers

Detroit Pistons v Cleveland Cavaliers

After spending the season on the two worst teams in the NBA, Mike Muscala might be headed to a playoff team.

Muscala was with the Wizards through mid-January, when he was traded to the Pistons as part of the Danilo Gallinari/Marvin Bagley deal. Now Muscala and the Pistons are finalizing a buyout that will make him a free agent in time to land on a roster for the playoffs, a story broken by Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN and confirmed by multiple reports since.

Muscala, 32, is a veteran stretch big who is a career 37.6% 3-point shooter who could potentially help a team looking for frontcourt depth the rest of this season. That said, he was not earning heavy minutes in Washington or Detroit, averaging 3.8 points and 2.8 rebounds a game in nearly 14 minutes a night between the two teams. He’s also shooting 31.8% from 3 this season and has struggled on the defensive end.

Players under contract must be waived by Friday (March 1) to be eligible to be on another team’s roster for the playoffs. Expect a few more buyouts to be announced in the coming days.