Sixers STEAL Former Top Prospect…

Sixers STEAL Former Top Prospect…

the Philadelphia 76ers put an exclamation point on an impressive draft class by adding Justin Edwards to the undrafted Market the former third overall Prospect in last year’s recruiting class became undrafted after a season at Kentucky and could be one of the lowrisk high reward players across the entire draft in this video I’m going to dive into what he brings from a basketball perspective why he did go undrafted and a little bit about why I’m optimistic that in the long run this could be a move that plays out terrific for the Sixers overall so for starters I want to acknowledge a little about who Justin Edwards is that just a year ago if we want to look back to who he is as a prospect that at this time we’re talking about him being committed to Kentucky as the third ranked Prospect in the country the number one small forward and the number one n paa that is’s a Philadelphia kid a local kid he went to Otep Charter he’s a guy that I’ve have not had a chance to watch play in person but have seen him and talk to him on brief occasions I was actually really disappointed there was one game through shout out to City of basketball love who does some awesome work covering High School Hoops in the city of Philly went through and he was a late scr catch from for injury reasons so I did not get to catch him but did see him chilling on the sidelines got a little interview after but for Justin Edwards as a basketball player which is the bigger storyline here I’m still way more optimistic than is the case and to acknowledge the stats for why things went a little more south than was the plan at Kentucky it mostly was the minutes that he played in 32 games started 30 of them played Just 21.4 points per game produced 8.8 points 3.4 rebounds 0.9 assists 0.9 steals shot 36.5% from three on 2. .7 attempts per game 48.6% from the field the bottom line is sort of in the John caliper model is he brings in all these top recruits and he lets him dog it out to an extent that John Calipari is a guy who believes in the thought process of you know iron sharpens iron when you bring all these talents that ultimately the cream Rises and these guys who are legitimate NBA prospects do find a way to establish themselves and climb out of that and unfortunately in Justin Edwards case he was not a part of the creem rising that we saw guys like Reed Shepard who was the third overall pick and guys like Dillingham who is the eighth overall pick each have way more impressive Seasons now in Ed Edward’s credit it was not all bad that he certainly had his moments and for example this game against Alabama in which he scored 28 points on 10 of 10 shooting that includes going seven of seven from Beyond the three-point Arc there also was a stretch in the season where he was shooting over 40% from three on increased volume he essentially started the season shooting pretty slow from Beyond The Arc and things sped up throughout the a that he did improve on that in a major way and when breaking him down as a player I do genuinely genuinely feel that he’s a guy whose skill set and style of play is going to translate far better at the NBA level than was the case in college now these are some unique circumstances that he did not hear his name called and to dive into specifically how unique that the former Kentucky forward Justin Edwards is the first top three recruit to go and drafted as far as I can find on 247 back to at least 2003 it’s not pulling up the 1999 to2 classes but it’s been over two decades since a top three recruit didn’t get drafted so definitely a little bit strange there and there’s certainly some questions that I would like to dig a little bit deeper into there but we can only judge off what we know and to talk a little bit about his skill set I do want to pull up two separate scouting reports here one from Sixers Adam which I’ll start with here and then a little more in-depth on the basketball side but Sixers Adam writes Edwards who will turn 21 years old in December was one of the most highly touted prospects in the nation when he committed to Kentucky a five-star recruit who was born in Philadelphia and went to high school at Otep Institute Charter Edward stands at 6’7 and 209 lbs with a 6’10 wingspan most of his athletic testing numbers at last last month’s NBA draft can combine were nothing to write home about Edward season with the wild cats was underwhelming he averaged 8.8 points per game while playing 21.4 minutes per contest he made 36.5% of three point tries on 2.7 attempts per game 85 total attempts and 77.6% of his free throws on 1.5 attempts per game 49 total attempts Edwards was expected to be drafted in the middle of Thursday’s NBA draft But ultimately did not hear his name called he was the highest ranked prospect on ESPN draft analysis Jonathan gon’s Big Board to not be selected this year the Sixers have tended to be aggressive in pursuing players with similarly noteworthy pedigrees during President of basketball operations Daryl Mor’s tenure with the team so this is very much a Daryl Mo myy move that this is a player who did not live up to expectations or is believed to be better than he has shown thus far if you want to flashback to just last year that my took a very similar approach and in last year’s draft the Sixers had zero picks whatsoever but they did attack the undrafted free agent market and brought in tur quavon Smith and Ricky Council the fourth and the jury is still out on what those players ultimately grow to be but we did see rookie Council make a little bit of an impact during last year every opportunity he got he did Shine and to call a spade a spade here that Justin Edwards is significantly more talented than either one of those guys that still brings the question of why didn’t things click at Kentucky in a way that is a little bit more conducive to winning or at least showing what you can do as a basketball player he certainly does fall into the category of players that I label as theoretical basketball players that he’s got the tools he’s got the look he’s got the feel but it’s just missing a little something it’s way more theoretical than there the substance for how he impacts a game but he’s also the type of guy that you take that swing on and if it clicks you found yourself a damn good basketball player now to dive into a little bit deeper of The Scouting Report I’m going to break this into two parts start about these strengths here that this being by nbadraft.net and they write that at 6′ 7 Edwards has the height and length NBA teams crave at the wings his Lefty jump shot is smooth and when he sets himself can knock down the outside shot can get hot from the outside excels as a catch and shoot threat and generally does a good job of sliding into open spots to make himself available to passers keeps good balance when spotting up getting his feet set as the ball arrives and is ready to shoot the ball on the catch smooth athlete that can Elevate quickly when going to the rim will finish transition opportunities with dunks when given the opportunity an underrated cutter without the ball but he doesn’t utilize this skill as much as he should can hit pull up jumpers wi the mid-range when he gets his run off the three-point line primarily when going to his left when he goes to his right he generally uses it as a spin move to get back to his left and attacks the paint from there has active fans on Def active hands on defense and does a good job of using his length to impact passing Lanes has shown some ability to jump passing lanes and create transition opportunities so a lot on the strengths there a bit of kind of my interpretation of that number one I didn’t acknowledge that he was a lefty until now but he does have that left-handed release point I actually think he has really good shooting footwork that’s one of the things that I’ve been most complimentary of for Jared McCain that you see him doing the work beforehand before the ball gets here to load up and let it fly I think Edwards does a really nice job of that as well I think Edward is a little more Dynamic off the dribble that he’s a guy that can take a guy he can rise up and just dunk it I think he’s a guy who has the tools and has to figure out who he wants to be as a basketball player that a lot of these characteristics the catch and shootability the athleticism the capability to dunk to get out in transition these are all traits that apply you just got to figure out how to make it work and I think for Edwards this is a bit of a reality check that the path seemed to be paved for him to be easy lottery pick certified top five top 10 pick was the expectation going in that year and it did not manifest itself that that’s not how things played out so you got to pick yourself up and figure things out from here we will see if he responds that positively now to dive into some of the weaknesses and a little more on why he did drop all the way out of the draft completely says didn’t produce at the NCA level averaging 8.8 points 3.4 rebounds and less than an assist per game played fewer than 20 minutes in 14 of his 32 games sporadic and streaky three-point shooter lacks the ability to create his own shot or generate opportunities for others no real ball handling ability despite his length did not rebound well on a consistent basis although he did show flashes of ability in spurts very awkward when handling the ball with his right hand loose handle and struggles to make any sort of move going right struggles to create any sort of separation from an even average Defender physical Defenders can knock him off his spot and make him uncomfort comfortable loses the ball often in trans transition can be bothered by active hands floats on the perimeter too much has poor anticipation which makes it difficult to pass his teammates open makes plays only as he sees them unfold leading him to missing opportunities not a contested shot maker most of his makes come on open looks from the perimeter needs to become a better screener to take advantage of pick and pop opportunities yeah but other than all that he’s great there was a lot there that was pretty negative I do hear it I do see that it’s a lot of these are cleanup situations that it’s improve your right a little bit and we’re talking differently and by by the way a guy like Jaylen Brown who is just crowned Finals MVP and is the highest player highest paid player in the NBA still can’t dribble with his left so there are exceptions to all of this now my honest reality and assessment of this is Justin Edwards isn’t this potential future star that he was once praised and expected to be but what he still can be is a very impactful NBA role player or guy that is a complimentary piece I think if Edwards can swallow that pill look himself in the mirror and figure out that the best direction is more or less of this 3 in the Arc Type of Wing he’s going to be set himself up for a great career and those are the guys that not only these Sixers have been in search of but are the premium across the entire NBA that is a worthwhile player to take a chance on in the undrafted market and giving him a two-way contract we will see ultimately what he is made of obviously I think he’s a guy who everyone will have their eyes on in summer league because as I mentioned I’m still pretty optimistic that he can just straight up play better at the NBA level than is the case in college and to to elaborate on what exactly I mean by that some of the differences When comparing the NBA and College the style of play pretty drastically different in my opinion and there are the clear ones obviously 35 second shot clock at the college level 24 at the NBA when you look at you know the the length of the three-point line is slightly different but more stylistically is what I’m talking to and the reason that I say that is in college you run a play to create a shot in the NBA you run a play to create a matchup that you want guys to create that and they take advantage that that’s how good these basketball players are Justin Edwards is a guy who falls under that Hooper category that if you drop him on a black top anywhere he’s going to look like the best player at that park that’s who Justin Edwards is he’s more cut from that mold and I don’t think that quite was able to show face at Kentucky there I do think the NBA Summer League is a place where that will be put on full display so it wouldn’t shock me if we revisit this video in a couple weeks once summer league is going down that Edwards is a guy popping off the page to people we’ll see ultimately what his NBA future has in store I do think that there is going to have to be some soul searching and reflection on his part for what he wants his role to be and what areas of his game need to be cleaned up but from the Sixers perspective this is the exact type of player that you should be taking these swings on a local kid a guy with incredibly High pedigree and expectations that he did not reach played at a blue bu blood program and by the way the track record for betting on underperforming Kentucky guards pretty good in that direction as well so we’ll see what things have to go from here but I am thrilled at the Justin Edwards Edition I do think this is a guy that has an NBA future and to add him on a two-way deal a guy that I think I wouldn’t have been shocked about if still was drafted in that late first round he does have all the tools and all the abil and you can’t teach that type of size and athleticism so we’ll see what all happens from here but I’m very excited about this selection or this addition through the free agent Market there but let me know if you guys are on the same page as me in the comments make sure you’re smashing that subscribe Button as we’re going to have plenty more content we are about to kick off the free agency period where all the madness will go down for the Sixers so make sure that you are tapping along with us for the rest of the ride and I’ll be talking with you next time right here on Sixers digest peace

Sixers STEAL Former Top Prospect…

Following the selections of Jared McCain and Adem Bona, the Sixers added Justin Edwards from the Undrafted free-agent market. Sean Barnard breaks down what a massive deal it is to add last year’s 3rd ranked recruit and what to make of his game. He also dives into why he slipped in the draft on why his game could be better equipped for the NBA level.

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