Sixers Are Secretly Creating A MONSTER

Sixers Are Secretly Creating A MONSTER

Justin Edwards was a great undrafted find by Daryl my played in 44 games, started some games and average 12.2 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 1.9 assists per game while shooting 45% from the field and 37.8% from three in 26 games as a starter. At just the age of 21, we have a small forward with starting level potential. He’s listed at 6’7 with a 6’10 wingspan. And let me tell you, heading into next season, I’m most excited about the buyin he showed defensively because if the Sixers turn into a winning team, that will be a huge part of his role. Look at him here. He’s picking up Austin Reeves, forcing him to change direction, forcing him to pick up his dribble. Then they double team LeBron. No worries. He is there to knock it loose for the steel. His activity off the ball is impressive. He always knows where to be. He knows Drew Holiday has no passing lane to Cornet and he’s on the big, but also he can take away Holiday’s only pass. Sixers are in a zone on this one. He jumps to the middle, jumps back to the short corner, taking away passing lanes, but then he has the length to rotate back to the middle to get the steal. And then on the other end of the floor, he finishes over Scotty Barnes like it’s nothing. You cannot be lacadasical against him. Simons tries to hand it off to Sharp. Edwards sniffed it out with ease. And then verse Cleveland, look at where he’s picking up Don Mitchell. The Cavaliers are forced to screen at the logo deep into the shot clock because of that ball pressure. He goes around Thompson and all of the sudden he’s back on Mitchell who then tries to cross him up. It doesn’t work. Now Mitchell is forced to drive into traffic because the shot clock is pretty much gone. And now PJ Washington thinks he can take advantage of the rookie. Nope. He’s feisty. He’s strong. He’s tough. That’s not going to work. Then later on with help from Jared Butler, he just rips it away from him. Tyler Herro believes he has a free driving lane. Then all of a sudden in point 5 seconds, nope, it’s gone. Steel. He’s consistently doing things like that, causing deflections, picking off passes like he’s Quinn Yan Mitchell. Defensively, he can hang already on that end of the floor at just the age of 21. Then offensively, the pullup jumper in the two-point region was his bread and butter. I wasn’t aware he had that type of consistency in his bag. 1.1 off the dribble two-pointers per game for him per pivotfade.com. 57.1% on those jumpers. Are you kidding me? Also, listen to this. He had 48 possessions as a pick and roll ball handler, 1.17 points per possession in that situation. Insane production. That puts him in the 97th percentile for the NBA. Obviously, the volume is extremely low, so you can’t take much from it. But I will say that’s a nice weapon to have from one of your last options in the hypothetical healthy Sixers lineup. He showcased he’s capable of saving possessions offensively if he has to. He really has shown the ability to score at all three levels versus Denny, a very good defender. He catches with 6 seconds on the shot clock. Quick between crossover. I mean, that’s a thing of beauty. He’s quick enough getting to the rim to cause a goal 10, which results in him saving that lost possession. Here he’s challenging Alex Sar. A very good shot blocker. So smartly he extends for the lefty layup as much as possible. Almost like a hook shot the way he shoots it to avoid SAR. That’s an elite role player sequence. Seizing the challenge and scoring on the opponent’s best rim protector on the court at that time. And here he’s running off a screen, catches, drives right away, doesn’t even think about it, and scores over another long defender. Perpivate.com. Listen to this one. He shot 61.5% on driving layups last season. Now going up against OKC. Great screen from Bona. He then seeks out the contact. Hard pound dribbles to the painted region. He could rise up because he had the initial defender sealed off the whole time. Most NBA players can do that every now and again, but to me, he looks so comfy with it. It doesn’t feel like a fluke. I feel like it’s safe to say he can do that pretty consistently if needed. Now, on a healthy Sixers team next year, his role will mostly be catch and shoot, make the one more pass, attack closeouts. But every now and again, he will have this opportunity and if he can keep it up, he’s going to be a special piece moving forward for them because he makes their offense as a whole more dynamic because most teams are going to be trying to take away Paul George, Tyresese Maxi, and Joel Embiid. So most likely he’s going to have one of the worst defenders on him when he’s on the court with them. So if he can take advantage of that, let’s go. And then here against Isaiah Joe, another good initial screen and then he seeks out contact sideep. The big is there to contest it. It doesn’t matter because he’s fading away a bit. Nothing but net. Kase Wallace later in the game goes under the screen. The disrespect that is that’s just rude. So, he’s like, “Okay, I got this.” And then verse Indiana, he just keeps that dribble alive. His mid-range is so smooth. He fits the mold of the modernday wing. He can shoot and play defense, but also he can dribble a bit. He can create his own shot a bit. He can pass a bit. He can handle a pick and roll a bit every now and again. You get what I’m saying? Also, his work ethic seems insane. I I mean, he went to Kentucky. He barely played. The thing is though, if you do some research about him, every single coach has positive things to say about him. It’s nothing but compliments. And it was clear he just wasn’t good enough at the time in college to earn major minutes. Hence why he went undrafted. That really hurt his stock. And all of a sudden, as a rookie, he was making an impact. Clearly, he was locked into the gym during the summer and the season because in the summer league, yeah, you saw some flashes from him, but he wasn’t unreal. And during the NBA season, he had a 14game stretch from March 3rd to March 30th. He averaged 15.1 points, 2.1 assists, and 1.3 steals per game, 51.5% on two-pointers, 37.7% on three-pointers on 5.5 attempts per game. I mean, he’s a legit two-way player, undrafted to putting up 10 points on a night-to-ight basis. And he was also taking like the best perimeter matchup in the back half of the season defensively. And what really reminded me to make this video is I saw pictures on social media from the Sixers account. Tyrese Maxi and Justin Edwards in the lab in the gym at the Sixers facility. Clearly, he’s working his booty cheeks off to be even better next year. I am so excited to see what year two brings for Justin Edwards. I wouldn’t be surprised, depending on the roster, he might be the small forward, the starting small forward, lowkey. Let me know your thoughts below on that in the comments section. Be sure to leave a like and subscribe. Check out my other videos. Have yourself a great day and peace out.

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