We’ve got another older college player off the board, this time it’s a junior in Carsen Edwards who took his role as lead scoring guard with Purdue to the umpteenth degree.
A high-usage player who was tasked with doing it all for a Purdue team with lofty goals last season, Edwards likely suffered a bit of an efficiency decline due to his herculean efforts. Standing at just a shade over 6’, his 6’6” wingspan helps him play a little taller than his diminutive height may make it seem. Still, playing that small at the next level is a dicey proposition and defenses will be prone to seek the mismatch and have taller players score over him. For reference, he slots in at just about the same height as Chris Paul, but doesn’t have nearly the playmaking skill nor the defensive reputation as Paul.
Some of that could be from the heavy lifting expected of him as a Boilermaker. He posted a Harden-level 37.3% usage rate his final season there, tasked with much of the scoring load. He wasn’t a real effective passer, averaging nearly as many assists per 40 minutes as a junior (3.3) as he did as a freshman (3.1) despite an 11% climb in his usage rate. Thankfully, he showed plenty of prowess as a scorer. He showed no hesitation launching it from 3-point lane, posting a career 9.6 3-point attempts per-40 minutes, which catapulted up to 11.9 his final year. Hitting that many triples and still maintaining a 35.5% shooting mark is pretty nifty. He’s at 36.8% for his career too.
Some of the dip from his sophomore to junior year from three might be a result of the “tough shot syndrome.” This is a guy who often had to create his own shot, and if you watched any of his heroic effort in their last NCAA tournament game, he was more than willing to rifle away if he even found a sliver of room to operate. At the next level, he should have more catch-and-shoot opportunities, which will hopefully help his percentages. He’s an 81.7% career free throw shooter too, and his percentage increased during his three years at school, despite the volume trending upward.
He was often sprinting around off-ball too, looking for an opening where his teammates would have a release valve. It seems easy to envision him as a Lou Williams type, a microwave scorer off the bench with an array of tricks to get his shot up. He may not show a propensity for driving to the rim or finishing down there, but developing some competent floater could be a key part of his repertoire. He’ll have to show that he can still get to his spots and fire away, with efficiency, at the next level, but I think Edwards would make an intriguing addition to a Milwaukee team that showed a lack of guys who could create for themselves as the Raptors series wore on. Bottle him up a bit and harness his energy in more contained spurts than what he had at Purdue, and he seems like a decent fit as a contributor right away.
With only two spots left before we reach who would theoretically be left for the Bucks, let’s see who gets 28. Like usual, I’m leaving this poll open all day Saturday too.
My pick for the #28 spot on the community draft board is...
Talen Horton-Tucker - SF, Iowa State
Nic Claxton - C, Georgia
Jontay Porter - C, Missouri
Luka Samanic - PF, Union Olimpija
Bruno Fernando - C, Maryland
Jalen McDaniels - PF, San Diego State
Brew Hoop Draft Board Rankings
Zion Williamson - PF, Duke
Ja Morant - PG, Murray State
Jarrett Culver - SG, Texas Tech
R.J. Barrett - SG, Duke
Darius Garland - PG, Vanderbilt
Coby White - SG, UNC
De’Andre Hunter - SF, Virginia
Cam Reddish - SF, Duke
Sekou Doumbouya - PF, Limoges CSP, France
Nassir Little - SF, UNC
Jaxson Hayes - C, Texas
Rui Hachimura - PF, Gonzaga
Brandon Clarke - PF, Gonzaga
Goga Bitadze - C, Mega Bemax, Adriatic Basketball Association
P.J. Washington - PF, Kentucky
Kevin Porter Jr. - SG, USC
Bol Bol - PF, Oregon
Tyler Herro - SG, Kentucky
Romeo Langford - SG, Indiana
Nickeil Alexander-Walker - SG, Virginia Tech
Cameron Johnson - PF, UNC
Ty Jerome - SG, Virginia
Keldon Johnson - SF, Kentucky
Grant Williams - PF, Tennessee
Matisse Thybulle - SF, Washington
Dylan Windler - SF, Belmont
Carsen Edwards - SG, Purdue