Why Fans Should Keep An Eye On Former Clemson Guard Marcquise Reed

On Monday, the NBA G League announced the list of forty NBA Draft prospects and forty G League alums that will be attending the 2019 G League Elite Camp, which will be taking place on May 12-14 at the Quest Multisport in Chicago.

In terms of the G League alumni that will be competing, they honestly did a good job of selecting solid and intriguing prospects that fall into one of four categories;

1. Stood out as a significant impact player for their team (ex: Kenneth Smith, Juan Toscano-Anderson, Amida Brimah, Norvel Pelle)
2. Potential two-way players (Kaiser Gates, Johnny Hamilton, Aaron Epps and Dusty Hannahs)
3. Former top high school prospects that NBA organizations might still have their eyes on (Brandon McCoy, Billy Preston and Malik Newman).
4. NBA alums that are looking for a second shot (Chinanu Onuaku, Jaylen Morris and Andrew White)

In addition to those G League studs, this event will also feature NBA Draft prospects. Although they might not be considered at the same level as Zion Williamson or Ja Morant, every one of these forty players each stood out as elite talent in the particular conference that they played in.

While each of those NBA Draft prospects showed themselves to be worthy of getting added to the G League Elite Mini Camp, there was one omission that was honestly pretty surprising. This exclusion was 6’3 guard Marcquise Reed, who spent the final three years of his college career with Clemson.

Reed’s best play came during his senior season where he put up 19.4 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3 assists and an ACC-best 2.1 steals per game on 44% from the field and 36% from beyond the arc on 4.3 attempts. That overall effort was good enough to have him get named to the ACC All-3rd Team, where he joined G League Elite Mini Camp participant Tyus Battle.

Even after playing his last game with Clemson, Reed continued his solid play as the guard traveled to Virginia to play at the 2019 Portsmouth Invitational. In the three games at that event, he put up 11.7 points, 3.7 assists, 3 rebounds and 3 steals per game on 48% from the field. Aside from struggling as a perimeter shooter, as he only made out of five attempts, it’s safe to say that the Clemson alum had a pretty good showing in the April event.

That solid showing at the Portsmouth Invitational combined with standing as one of the best guards in the ACC would make you believe that he’d at least be invited to the G League Elite Camp. Alas, that obviously wasn’t the case. Despite that omission, Reed is still an intriguing prospect that fans should keep an eye on during the rest of the summer and beyond. That’s largely due to his status as a 6’3 slashing guard with solid facilitating instincts that works incredibly hard on the defensive end

That effort on defense was on display during three games he played at the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament. No matter who he was guarding, Reed always seemed committed on doing whatever he can to stop them from scoring. At least during that event, the Clemson alum’s main method of doing that came from simply forcing turnovers, whether that came from going into the passing lanes or using quick hands to snatch the ball from the opposing guard. In the process of doing that, the guard showed great court awareness by knowing whether to fight under or over the screens while trying to stick with his guard.

An example of all those factors put into action is evident in the clip below. Working against former Cornell guard Matt Morgan, he goes under the off-ball screen as it looks teammate Cameron Jackson might decide to switch onto the ball-handler. However, shortly after working around the screen, Reed suddenly snatches the rock right out of Morgan’s right hand. That move leads his teammate Isaiah Pineiro to grab the loose ball and push it up the floor in transition.

Aside from his great work on defense, another skill that he really shined at was as a facilitator. While that isn’t directly evident from his stats, as he only averaged 3.7 assists per game, the CLemson alum definitely showed flashes of someone that can be a solid distributor at the pro level. One play that shows that is seen below where Reed is working the pick-and-roll with former Mississippi State big Aric Holman. After his partner sets a slip screen and starts to roll to the rim, the 6’3 guard works right to draw the attention of two defenders before ripping off a pretty no-look pass to Holman, who finishes at the rim.

In addition to his knack as an facilitator and on-ball defender, the Clemson alum is also capable of slashing to the rim, working off the dribble and hitting a mid-range jumper and shooting from beyond the arc. While his perimeter skills weren’t evident at Portsmouth, Reed shot 37% on 3.6 three-point attempts per game during his four-year college career.

While he might’ve gotten overlooked when it came to getting selected for the G League Elite Mini Camp, you definitely shouldn’t overlook this prospect. For one, Reed does a nice job of combining hard work with great instincts to be a tremendous thief. On the other end of the floor, he used his time at Clemson to shine as an on-ball driver, mid-range and perimeter threat while also showing flashes of being a solid facilitator.

Although getting selected in the upcoming NBA Draft may not be in the cards for the young guard, it’s definitely safe to say that he has a strong pro career ahead of him. Will that come in the G League with him being on a two-way or regular contract? Or will a top-flight squad in one of the European countries decide to add him to their roster later on this summer?

Obviously, the jury will remain out on that. However, it should be clear that Marcquise Reed is a talented player that fans should keep an eye on for the remainder of this summer and beyond.