Michigan State made a decent showing in Summer League this year, especially with the high-caliber play from Miles Bridges and Matt Costello. But how did Nick Ward, Matt McQuaid, and Kenny Goins play?
I think Nick Ward might be an NBA player?
I am not super optimistic that it will happen for him this season, but Nick Ward has started to convince me that he might be an NBA player. It took him a few games, but in his last game of the summer he put up a 16-point, 13-rebound double-double. He looked better on defense than I expected and it made me believe that his savvy play can translate in the NBA.
Give Nick Ward one year in the G-League to work on his body, and I think we’ll see him at the next level.
Matt McQuaid and Kenny Goins.. barely see the floor
Going into Summer League, I was quite bullish on Matt McQuaid’s NBA prospects. It is hard to keep that optimism after he barely played in Summer League this year for the Pistons outside of a couple garbage time minutes.
Kenny Goins fared slightly better, getting 18 minutes in the Nuggets last game. He had 8 points including 2 three-pointers but was -2 from a plus/minus perspective.
I think we will see all three players in the G-League this year unless one of them wants to go make a little more money in Europe, but it was good to at least see Ward have a bit of a breakout game.
