San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Warriors could land next Wade with No. 2 pick
Editor’s note
This is the ninth in a series of stories on players the Warriors might select with their top pick in the NBA draft.
Asked to name an NBA player he compares himself to, former Georgia guard Anthony Edwards wiped sweat from his forehead and paused.
“His name is Dwyane Wade,” Edwards said on “SportsCenter” last week. “I look on the TV and say I can be that guy, or I can be better than him.”
Within minutes, that 24word sound bite rippled through the blogosphere, triggering backlash. Edwards could be the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft on Nov. 18, but he shot just 40.2% from the field last season for a Bulldogs team that went 513 in SEC play. Even optimistic pundits don’t expect him to be better than Wade, a 13time AllStar, threetime NBA champion and future Hall of Famer.
But to become an elite player at the next level, Edwards must first believe he is elite.
The question is whether, when evaluating Edwards’ career in 20 years, analysts might dredge up that “SportsCenter” quote as evidence of an inflated ego. Though few doubt his physical gifts, Edwards’ issues with efficiency and focus at Georgia have left some to wonder whether he’ll become more than just a suitable NBA starter.
The Warriors are believed to view Edwards as someone
who can blossom into a face of a franchise and multitime AllStar if put in the right situation. According to league sources, Golden State would likely take Edwards at No. 2 should Minnesota pass on him at No. 1.
His skill set is an ideal fit for the Warriors’ system. Unlike many top picks seen as franchise saviors, Edwards could find himself coming off the bench as a rookie, asked to knock down spotup jumpers, attack closeouts, cut, make the simple pass and play hard on defense.
If the Warriors draft Edwards and he succumbs to bad habits, Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson could mentor him. The Warriors would hope that, by the time Curry ( age 32), Green ( 30) and Thompson ( 30) decline in production, Edwards would be ready to lead the team into a new era.
After Golden State watched Edwards work out recently, a league source who was present told The Chronicle, “He still has a lot to learn, but he’s so darn talented. He has many of the tools you see in superstarlevel guys. Personally, I’d bank on him being great.”
Such a projection might seem overly optimistic to those who followed Edwards’ lone college season. After he arrived at Georgia as the most hyped recruit in program history, he often struggled to play up to his billing, committing silly turnovers, attempting questionable shots and flashing an alarming amount of indifference.
On numerous occasions, Edwards settled for contested 19footers toward the end of the shot clock instead of using his muscular 6foot5, 225pound frame to get to the rim. On defense, he sometimes appeared bored, jogging back in transition during crucial moments.
His 29.4% clip from 3point range was far worse than his sound shooting mechanics suggest is possible. Though Edwards is an aboveaverage ballhandler for his position, he attempted risky passes and averaged nearly as many turnovers ( 2.7) as assists ( 2.8).
Perhaps the biggest knock on Edwards is that his supreme talent has yet to consistently serve winning.
Holy Spirit Preparatory School in Atlanta, where he transferred in January 2017 before reclassifying to the 2020 class, looked overmatched at times against top competition. Had the coronavirus pandemic not shut down college basketball this past spring, Georgia wouldn’t have made the NIT — let alone the NCAA Tournament.
In late September, Bleacher Report reported that “teams are worried about Edwards’ drive and enthusiasm for winning, and according to a source, the Golden State Warriors aren’t a likely landing spot due to these concerns.”
But multiple league sources have since told The Chronicle that research into Edwards’ background and time with the Bulldogs helped assuage concerns, and the Warriors now view his lack of winning as more a product of his situations than as an indictment against him. At both Holy Spirit Prep and Georgia, Edwards
had no one around him who was nearly as gifted, which forced him to shoulder immense responsibility.
For much of his freshman season with the Bulldogs, Edwards — at his best, a highscoring wing — took on more of a playmaking role. Only when freshman Sahvir Wheeler finally assumed the bulk of the point guard duties did Edwards start to cut down on mistakes, ratchet up his defensive intensity and improve his shot selection.
“It’s easy to look at Edwards’ numbers and think,
‘ No way this guy should be the top pick,’ ” said a Western Conference scout, who spoke under the condition of anonymity because he’s not authorized to talk publicly about the draft. “But when evaluating prospects, context matters. Don’t be shocked if Edwards is a better player in the NBA than he was in college.”
In addition to boasting the best highlight reel of anyone in this draft class, Edwards is just three months removed from his 19th birthday. His youth and lack of oncourt schooling are big reasons why some talent evaluators think he can follow the blueprint of Utah’s Donovan Mitchell and Washington’s Bradley Beal — inefficient college players who developed into NBA AllStars.
Edwards has drawn comparisons to Dwyane Wade and Donovan Mitchell for good reason: A 6- foot- 5 shooting guard with a strong build, 6- foot- 9 wingspan and 42- inch vertical leap, he boasts the physical gifts to become an All- Star- caliber player.
Though he is only 19, Edwards already excels at using dribble- drives and a quick first step to get downhill and finish with either hand. His body control and hang time for his size are exceptional.
A solid ballhandler, Edwards reads double- teams well and knows when to kick out to open shooters. When he does shoot, he has a quick release, only needing a tiny bit of space to get it off.
Edwards hardly lacks for confidence, which helps him make the game look easy at times. His rebounding and shot- blocking are above average for his position. Though he still has plenty to learn defensively, Edwards has the length, lateral quickness and instincts to become an elite one- on- one stopper.
Weaknesses:
Edwards is quite flawed for a potential No. 1 pick. Despite his considerable talent, he didn’t win at a high level in high school or college. Out of position much of his freshman year at Georgia, Edwards shot 40.2% from the field ( 29.4% from 3- point range) and averaged nearly as many turnovers ( 2.7) as assists ( 2.8) for a Bulldogs team that went 5- 13 in conference play. His shot selection was questionable. At times, Edwards seemed bored on the court.
On defense, he tended to jog back in transition, not crossing half court until well after his teammates. The question is how much of Edwards’ issues were the product of a tough situation at Georgia.
Though his athleticism gives him a relatively high floor, he might not develop into more than an adequate starter at the next level unless he lands in a stable environment. This isn’t a generational prospect such as Zion Williamson or Tim Duncan. To tap into his immense potential, Edwards must learn on the fly — a tough task for any top pick.
Fit with Warriors:
If Golden State drafts Edwards at No. 2, it will do so hoping that he can spend the next couple years learning from Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green before becoming a face of the franchise by the time those three near retirement.
In many ways, Edwards is similar to Warriors forward Andrew Wiggins. Edwards’ length and speed allow him to defend multiple positions. Though his shooting mechanics are fine, Edwards is best offensively when working off screens and cutting toward the rim.
As a rookie, he could probably be the sixth or seventh man on a Warriors team trying to vault back into contention. This would ease the pressure of being a top pick and give him time to blossom into a go- to option.
Scout’s take:
“In a draft with so much uncertainty, Edwards might be the surest thing available. I’m not saying he’s definitely going to be an All- Star, but I feel confident saying that — barring a major injury — he’ll be a very good player in this league for a long, long time. That’s more than you can say about almost any other player in this draft.”
Bottom line:
The Warriors recently watched Edwards work out. According to a league source, they were “super impressed” with his athleticism.
But will that be enough for Golden State to overlook his shortcomings and take him at No. 2 if he’s available? With the draft little more than two weeks away, league sources indicate that the Warriors would have a tough time passing on him.
Despite his considerable shortcomings at Georgia, Edwards made plenty of plays that were Wadeesque. Last week, after Edwards declared he could be better than Wade, Wade — like Edwards, a protege of coach Tom Crean — tweeted, “He can be better. America here is your number 1 pick!”
The Warriors hope Wade is wrong about that last part.
Connor Letourneau covers the Warriors for The San Francisco Chronicle. Email: cletourneau@ sfchronicle. com Twitter:
@ Con_ Chron
The Warriors have been big supporters of Biden and critics of Trump. Curry campaigned for Biden, appearing at the Democratic National Convention. Warriors head coach Steve Kerr has taken to Twitter multiple times in recent days to reiterate his support.
Connor Letourneau covers the Warriors for The San Francisco Chronicle.