Pre-draft workouts continue for the Sixers this week, with a crop of players Wednesday that looks like this:

  • Eric Carter (Delaware)
  • Carsen Edwards (Purdue)
  • Jonathan Kasibabu (Fairfield)
  • CJ Massinburg (Buffalo)
  • Charles Matthews (Michigan)
  • Quinndary Weatherspoon (Mississippi State)

I haven’t written much about these workouts for two reasons:

One, typically only hardcore Sixers fans are interested. Two, it’s usually always the same thing, i.e. you watch some scrimmaging and then the player says, “yeah I’ve heard great things about Philly, I’d love to play here.”

But I wanted to take a moment to highlight Edwards out of Purdue, since he’s a guy who’s been mocked to the Sixers in a few pre-draft articles I’ve seen. He’s a 21 year old, 6’1″ combo guard with three years of Big 10 experience under his belt, a two-time All Conference player and second-team All-American.

If you watched Purdue’s run to the Elite 8, or any Boilermaker ball prior to the tournament, you know Edwards is, uh, not afraid to shoot the ball, which is putting it lightly. In the month of March he shot the ball 173 times in eight games, which is 21.6 attempts per game:

Those are outrageous totals for the college game. He put up 42 points against Virginia and Villanova on 56 and 57% shooting, though you do see some big time clunkers in there, namely the Minnesota games and the Northwestern win.

So he’s not afraid to chuck, certainly not, and the Sixers might view him as a T.J. McConnell and/or Markelle Fultz replacement on the second unit, a staggered group featuring Jimmy Butler as the primary postseason ball handler.

Edwards is a high volume three-point shooter, hitting at 40.6% as a sophomore and 35.5% as a senior. At 2.9 assists per game, you won’t get a ton of playmaking out of him, but it’s certainly an area where he can grow and improve. He’s also a very good transitional player and quick on the break, which should fit nicely in a Brett Brown system.

The Villanova video shows off his shooting ability and a bit of his finishing at the rim, so here it is with apologies to our Wildcat readers:

Weaknesses are what you would expect. He’s small, doesn’t have a ton of next-level athleticism, and will have difficulty defending NBA players, especially with so many guys having the ability to simply shoot over him. He played point guard this season for Purdue but spent time as a shooting guard in his first two years, and he probably has the skill set of an NBA two guard, though I’m certain he could handle either role as an NBA backup. I think from the outset you’re looking at a guy you bring off the bench to give you some raw scoring ability. The Sixers probably aren’t getting a starter at pick #24, #33, or #34 anyway, unless you stumble upon the second coming of Pascal Siakam. You’re probably looking for a junior or senior, someone who is a bit further along and fits the timeline of where the Sixers are in 2019, which is an Eastern Conference contender.

So keep an eye on Carsen Edwards as an interesting late 1st round choice, or at 33 or 34 if he’s still on the board. Most mocks seem to have him going late first or early second round, right in that 24 to 34 area where the Sixers are living.