Philadelphia 76ers: Is Carsen Edwards a good fit in Philly?

After working out with the team earlier in the week, is Purdue’s superscoring point guard Carsen Edwards a legitimate fit with the Philadelphia 76ers?

As you’ve probably noticed, the NBA Draft is right around the corner (June 20th), and teams like the Philadelphia 76ers are deep in the trenches of trying out prospects to hopefully unearth a few potential players with their four picks.

While it seems incredibly unlikely that the team will be able to secure a blue-chip, franchise-altering prospect with the 24th, 33rd, 34th, or 42nd overall pick – barring Elton Brand‘s ability to unearth the next Kawhi Leonard and/or Giannis Antetokounmpo outside of the lottery – there is still great value to be found all over the board.

With Landry Shamet serving as the latest example of an underappreciated player transformed into a serious contributor on a playoff bound team, Philly needs to find immediate contributors (by their own admission) to fill out the final 10 spots on their roster.

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Could Carsen Edwards, a recent Sixers workoutee be that player?

Measuring in at 6-foot-1, 200 pounds, Edwards spent three seasons running the point at Purdue and earned more starts and more impressive numbers with each passing season.

And as a junior, the consensus All-American, All-Big Ten point guard went off to the tune of 24.3 points in 35.4 points a game.

Looking like a modern-day Allen Iverson in a surprisingly similar college uniform, Edwards wasn’t just Purdue’s best offensive player; he was the Boilermakers’ offense; average twice as many points as the team’s next best player (Ryan Cline) and a third of the team’s 76.7 points a game.

Simply put, if you need a player to give you two (or 3), there aren’t many players better equipped to give it to you in this year’s draft than Carsen Edwards.

But fans in the 215 already know this, as the Purdue product put up 42 points against our very own Villanova Wildcats in the NCAA Tournament.

So it’s pretty clear Edwards can get buckets at the NCAA-level and should be able to translate that skillset, despite his size, at the next level, but is he a good fit in Philadelphia?

That, my friends, depends on his role.

If the Sixers want a second unit scorer capable of running the point or playing off the ball in a super small, fast-paced offensive set (next to Zhaire Smith?) then yeah Edwards is as good a fit as any player on the board; a plug and play point with a well-rounded offensive game. Though he’s not going to get you many assists, averaging only 2.5 a game over his career, Edwards averaged at least a steal a game over his 108 games in West Lafayette highlighting ‘my ball’ mentality that Philly fans love.

However, if the 76ers want to draft someone who can play good backcourt defense and have scheme flexibility in their starting five alongside Ben Simmons, Joel Embiid, and (probably) J.J. Redick that could complicate selecting Edwards 24th overall. Measuring in a 6-foot-2, Edwards is hardly known for his defense, and may struggle in an off-ball role alongside Simmons. Edwards is also only shot 35.5 percent from 3 point range on 5.1 attempts a game as a junior.

Typically players don’t get better at deep ball accuracy as they transition to the pros (and it’s expanded 3 point line), so starting off at a league average clip is a bit worrisome.

In a lot of ways, Edwards is like a more ball dominant Lou Williams, the player ESPN compared him to in their player profile. While Williams is a bit limited in terms of his scheme flexibility as a 6-foot-1 shooting guard, he’s a bonafide scorer, and typically teams that have him coming off their bench are usually better off with him on their roster than not. Though Edwards could potentially surpass Williams and become a starter for years to come due to his ball-handling abilities, if the Philadelphia 76ers were to procure the next Lou Will without surrendering a lottery pick, that’d be considered a dynamite draft by any measure.

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Currently ranked the 36th overall prospect on ESPN’s Draft Board, though other Mock drafts have had him going as high as the 24th overall pick (to Philly), it seems like the 76ers will have opportunity after opportunity to select Purdue’s pride and joy, and if he’s there at 33, or there’s an opportunity to trade up, Carsen Edward could be a great fit in Philly despite his scheme inflexibility.