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Matt McQuaid is staying in Michigan to continue his basketball career. After going undrafted, the former Spartan is signing with the Detroit Pistons, according to The Athletic’s Michael Scotto.
The Detroit Pistons have agreed to a deal with former Michigan State Spartans guard Matt McQuaid, a league source told @TheAthleticNBA.
— Michael Scotto (@MikeAScotto) June 21, 2019
McQuaid worked out with the Pistons on June 4, and apparently Ed Stefanski, who is basically the team’s general manager, and head coach Dwayne Casey liked what they saw.
A senior captain this past season, McQuaid averaged 9.8 points per game, 3.0 rebounds per game and 2.1 assists per game during the 2018-2019 season, while shooting 43.2 percent from the floor, 42.2 percent from the three-point line and 81 percent from the free throw line.
During his college career, McQuaid played in 140 games with 49 starts. He averaged 6.3 ppg, 1.9 apg and 1.6 rpg. He shot 40 percent from the field, while hitting a clip of 39.4 percent from beyond the arc and 78.9 percent from the charity stripe. McQuaid ended his Michigan State career at No. 8 in school history in terms of three-pointer made with 191.
Although those numbers aren’t eye-popping, McQuaid found many ways to impact a game in ways that don’t necessarily show up in the stat sheet. His energy, surprising athleticism, tenacious defense and leadership were all huge factors in helping Michigan State reach the Final Four. He was also named to the Big Ten All-Defensive team as a senior.
McQuaid’s next step will be to compete on Detroit’s Summer League team in Las Vegas. He’ll hope to impress there, and look to earn a spot during the team’s training camp where he’ll then have an opportunity to make the final roster. If not, McQuaid can also earn a two-way contract with Detroit’s G-League team, the Grand Rapids Drive, where he could be brought back up to the Pistons’ roster during the season.
The Pistons are in desperate need of wing players who can shoot, such as McQuaid, but McQuaid’s game is going to need to develop before he sees any meaningful playing time in the NBA.
The Pistons added three other rookies in Thursday night’s draft by taking forward Sekou Doumbouya out of France, forward Deividas Sirvydis from Lithuania and Tennessee guard Jordan Bone.
Let’s hope McQuaid can earn a roster spot and continue to improve upon his game. Good luck, Quaido!