Former Piston Michael Gbinije signs with Golden State Warriors
Michael Gbinije has signed with the Golden State Warriors. The 25 year old played just nine games as a rookie with Detroit Pistons last season.
Former Detroit Pistons guard Michael Gbinije is headed to the Bay Area. According RealGM, the free agent shooting guard has signed with the Golden State Warriors. Gbinije, 25, was selected 49th overall by Detroit in the 2016 NBA Draft.
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The 6’7″ rookie rarely saw the floor, accumulating just 32 minutes last season. He scored a total of 4 points on 1-of-10 shooting. It’s hard to judge a player’s ability when the sample size is that small. But after Stan Van Gundy brought in three new shooting guards this summer, Gbinije was the odd man out.
Despite a scarce opportunity in the NBA, Gbinije had a solid season with the Pistons’ G League affiliate, the Grand Rapids Drive. In 16 games, he averaged 12.0 points (on 42 percent shooting), 4.3 rebounds and 1.8 assists per contest.
Those stats won’t jump out at you, and they shouldn’t. But, if anything, Gbinije proved that he’s worthy of another shot in the NBA. Golden State has given it to him.
Which makes this signing even more noteworthy. The Warriors are the gold standard (pun-intended) when it comes to player development. They see something in Gbinije, who possesses some serious size advantage as a two guard. He isn’t a knock down shooter, but he doesn’t appear to be a liability either.
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His time as a Piston may have been short. But Detroit Pistons fans should keep an eye out for Gbinije moving forward. It isn’t every day that a team like the Warriors bring in an ex-Piston. If there’s any untapped potential left in the 25-year-old, they’ll be sure to find it.