How good can Carsen Edwards be?
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| Image of Carsen Edwards courtesy of Ron Schwane/Associated Press |
Carsen Edwards was an elite scorer at Purdue and is proving that he can score in the NBA as well.
For anyone keeping track at home, Carsen Edwards just made his 8th three of the quarter. 😳pic.twitter.com/SoVdM2KyJ9— Sporting News (@sportingnews) October 16, 2019
Carsen Edwards managed to hit 45 percent of his 3s this preseason while taking 72 percent of his FG attempts from 3-point range: https://t.co/cXIT30xggF— Brian Robb (@BrianTRobb) October 16, 2019
He lit up the Summer League by taking and making tons of shots. He had a very solid preseason where he averaged over 15 points per game. That average skyrocketed when he dropped 30 (24 in 3rd quarter) in the third preseason game against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Rookie leading scorers at the end of pre-season:— NBA Central (@TheNBACentral) October 19, 2019
Zion Williamson - 23.3
Coby White - 19.2
RJ Barrett - 15.8
Nickeil Alexander-Walker - 15.4
Carsen Edwards - 15.3
Tyler Herro - 14.2
Kendrick Nunn - 13.8
Jordan Poole - 13.2
Chris Clemons - 12.5
Jarrett Culver - 12.4
Due to his preseason success, he now has the 12th best odds to win the Rookie of the Year. Not bad for the 33rd pick in the NBA Draft. For those keeping track, a second round pick has won the award in recent history. It is not often that the ROY winner is drafted outside the lottery, but Malcolm Brogdon did take home the hardware after the 2016-17 season as the 36th overall pick.
Individual awards are cute, but what can Edwards do for the Boston Celtics this season?
I can’t imagine Brad Stevens leaving him on the bench too long if the team is struggling to score. Edwards will be called upon to be insta-offense. He is a microwave-type score that can score 20 points in 18 minutes off the bench.
“I‘ve never see anything like that,” Brad Stevens says of Carsen Edwards hitting eight 3-pointers in just 5:06 of game action.— Boston Celtics (@celtics) October 16, 2019
Distances on Carsen Edwards’ nine made 3-pointers Tuesday:— Chris Forsberg (@ChrisForsberg_) October 16, 2019
23
30
25
26
30
33
28
33
28
Average distance: 28.4 feet
Edwards is undersized at around 6-feet tall. He is not a traditional point guard and is not ready to take on those responsibilities yet. He is even more undersized as a shooting guard, but his offense is hard to ignore.
Brad has experience hiding smaller guards (see: Isaiah Thomas) on defense. With the personnel of versatile Marcus Smart and Jaylen Brown, the Celtics should be able to figure out any of Edwards’ deficiencies. I don’t think he’s a terrible defender - he’s quick, strong (look at those thighs), and will work hard.
Carsen Edwards was asked about his thighs today. pic.twitter.com/rTdlGOWwl6— Nicole Yang (@nicolecyang) October 17, 2019
Do I think he’ll win the Rookie of the Year? No. He won’t get as many opportunities as some of the other draft picks on bad teams, but he could be one of the more impactful. Edwards could become an effective sixth of seventh man for the 2019-20 version of the Celtics.
With the Celtics likely having to rely on inexperienced bench players, Edwards will see minutes. From everything we’ve seen so far, he’ll be able to provide a spark and I can’t wait to watch him catch fire again.
