Philadelphia 76ers: Los Angeles Lakers fans really hate Mike Muscala

After spending an encouraging half of a season with the Philadelphia 76ers, Mike Muscala has become public enemy number one for Los Angeles Lakers fans.

What do you remember about Mike Muscala‘s tenure with the Philadelphia 76ers?

Will his 47 game tenure be remembered fondly for his ‘Moose’ nickname and admirable efforts as the team’s top big man off the bench? Or will fans instead wonder why Elton Brand and company flipped both Justin Anderson and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, guards who haven’t done much of anything this season, to procure a lesser replacement for Ersan Ilyasova?

In all likelihood, Muscala will join the ranks of players like Larry Drew II, Corey Brewer, and Shawn Long as appreciated tenured Sixers with no real accomplishments to their name other than earning a spot in the hallowed annals of the franchise’s storied list of former players.

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However, if things don’t change soon, Muscala’s tenure in Los Angeles could have a very different ending.

Initially shipped to the Clippers alongside Wilson Chandler and Landry Shamet as part of the Tobias Harris trade that also netted the Sixers Boban Marjanovic and Mike Scott, Muscala was almost immediately traded to the other team that calls the Staples Center home, the Lakers, for Ivica Zubac, a player initially expected to be part of a supersized package for Anthony Davis.

Since then, Muscala has played in 11 games (two starts) for LeBron James‘ Lakers, and needless to say, things haven’t gone great.

Averaging 9.3 minutes of action a night, Muscala has only knocked down five of his 24 3 point attempts this season for a woeful 20.8 percentage. Factor in his dismal stat line, 2.5 points and 1.2 rebounds a night and it’s hard to imagine why exactly Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka opted to ship a third-year center on a rookie deal to make it happen.

And fans on Twitter aren’t exactly happy with their new stretch four either.

If you search ‘Mike Muscala‘ or worse, some variation of ‘Mike Muscala hate‘, you will be met with scores of angry Lakers fans cursing the trade, with some calling it ‘the worst small trade of all time’.

That’s not good.

It’s also not good that since switching locker rooms, Zubac has blossomed into a legitimate force; averaging a career-best 8.9 points and 7.9 rebounds while starting 17 straight games.

Sometimes a team misses on a well-intentioned trade, the Markelle Fultz–Celtics trade comes to mind, and it sets the team back, but other times a trigger-happy GM opts to make a trade just to make a trade, and their team ultimately gets no better as a result.

The Lakers’ decision to trade for Muscala firmly falls into the latter category, much to the chagrin of fans in Los Angeles.

Next. The Philadelphia 76ers should use their first-round pick on Lou Williams. dark

While the thought process of adding a shooter like Mike Muscala initially made sense (read more on that here), especially when it also removed a feuding player from the roster (Michael Beasley), a LeBron James-led squad will miss the postseason for the first time since 2005, ultimately making the Los Angeles Lakers’ decision to make a move superfluous.