With the 2024-25 Sixers season officially in the rearview mirror, the time has come to evaluate the few highs and many lows of a disastrous campaign in which the team only managed 24 wins. We will do so in "Sixers year-in-review," a series assessing each individual Sixers player's performance this year based on numbers, film and quotes, while also looking ahead to the future.
Up next: Justin Edwards.
Edwards, the 21-year-old hometown product, went from a five-star recruit to Kentucky to an undrafted free agent on a two-way deal. But upon receiving a rotation opportunity with the Sixers, Edwards capitalized, quickly earning consistent playing time and a conversion to a standard deal.
Can Edwards become an important part of the Sixers' future? What are the next steps in his development?
SIXERS YEAR-IN-REVIEW
Joel Embiid | Guerschon Yabusele | Paul George | Jared McCain | Tyrese Maxey | Andre Drummond | Quentin Grimes | Jared Butler | Kyle Lowry | Kelly Oubre Jr.
What we learned in 2024-25
Edwards has a real chance to be a reliable two-way rotation wing for years to come.
Edwards does not have any outlier skills, but with clear competence in just about every aspect of the game, he found a way to not just look the part of a quality rotation wing, but earn significant trust from his coaching staff. Edwards has a very good frame that enables him to be versatile defensively despite only being a decent athlete. His confidence and quick trigger as a three-point shooter help him overcome only decent accuracy. More than anything, though, Edwards' obvious feel for the game is what powered his two-way production.
The Sixers would have loved for their season to not go in the direction that it did, but one silver lining was that with a lack of focus on winning, the team could redirect that energy towards player development. Another Sixer born and raised in Philadelphia, Kyle Lowry, pointed this out at the beginning of April when talking about Edwards, whose locker was next to his own.
"Unfortunately we're in this situation, you know, not-winning-wise, but for him and our organization going forward, you get an opportunity for him to step up and show what he can do," Lowry said. "He went from undrafted to two-way to getting a standard contract. So it’s just kind of, like, yeah, we don't want to be in this situation, but you find some hidden gems. He's a great hidden gem. He's really good, he's a professional, he wants to get better, he's passionate about the game and at the end of the day, he's just going to continue to get better with this opportunity he's been having."
Number to know
Edwards averaged 6.4 rebounds per 100 possessions in 1,155 minutes as an NBA rookie.
Earlier this month, I wrote about a key area of improvement moving forward for each of the Sixers' rookies. For Edwards, the focus was rebounding, where he was not dreadful but certainly unspectacular as a rookie. An excerpt from that story:
"To be fair, this is nitpicking a player who obliterated expectations as an undrafted two-way signing and quickly emerged as a quality wing. Edwards not becoming a particularly good rebounder will not doom his chances of sticking in the NBA, nor will it get much publicity. But part of his long-term appeal is that he has a terrific frame for a wing; those players often end up logging plenty of minutes at power forward where their jobs on the glass are a bit more important. It is not a red flag whatsoever, more a note on something that will be worth monitoring next season and evaluating more seriously much later on."
If Joel Embiid and Paul George are available more consistently next season, it stands to reason that a greater share of Edwards' minutes will come at the four compared to this season. That will force him into more matchups against bigger, stronger players, making it more important that he is able to hold his own on the glass.
On Thursday, Kelly Oubre Jr.'s efforts as a rebounder were highlighted as his season was reviewed. Sixers head coach Nick Nurse makes a point to emphasize the importance of perimeter players helping out bigs on the glass, and Edwards becoming more capable in that respect would go a long way.
MORE: Draft trade scenarios; what will it cost to re-sign Grimes, Yabusele?
Important film
One of the key checkpoints in Edwards' development late in the season, as Nurse prioritized giving him as many minutes as possible: a scoring binge during the month of March in which Edwards was clearly becoming far more comfortable as an on-ball player with every passing game. That was punctuated with a seven-game stretch in which Edwards averaged 19.9 points per game on terrific efficiency (62.3 true shooting percentage).
During that stretch, Edwards was not just scoring, he was doing it in a wide variety of fashions:
Justin Edwards in his last three games:
62 points
10 three-pointers
66.6 TS%
A compilation of 10 Edwards baskets during this span, from quick-trigger spot-up shooting to self-created scoring and more: pic.twitter.com/h2O1Mw2vkJ— Adam Aaronson's clips (@SixersAdamClips) March 23, 2025
The Sixers will likely never rely on Edwards as even a secondary scorer let alone a go-to bucket-getter, but on every occasion in which he successfully attacks a closeout, capitalizes on a mismatch or establishes a spot on the floor in which he is especially comfortable, he becomes slightly more intimidating for opposing defenses that will be far more focused on other players.
Salient soundbite
Nurse on March 30 on Edwards' feel for the game and how it led the way for him being able to contribute on both ends of the floor as a rookie:
"I think that it's pretty rare. I mean, I've kind of said this from the beginning with him: I thought there were two things that he had. One is his willingness and want to and desire to play defense and guard the ball. He'll go give you his best effort on whoever he gets thrown on and does a good, credible job. He's long, he's strong, he's got some savvy there defensively and he knew how to play offense. He understands spacing. The ball finds him for shots because he's in the right place. The closeouts, he finds the closeouts because he's in the right place. The best thing is he doesn't force it very often when the defense rotates to help, or when he's got the next quick pass, he makes it. And that is very important, too. And I think especially when you're trying to piece a team together and get guys to play certain roles, like he certainly could fit a role for our team in that aspect."
MORE: Elton Brand 'among candidates' to run Atlanta Hawks
Question heading into the future
What caliber of three-point shooter will Edwards be moving forward?
Ultimately, Edwards' ceiling will be determined by the quality of his three-point shooting — as is the case for most perimeter players who profile as supporting cast members. Edwards' three-point volume was excellent as a rookie — he took 8.1 long-range attempts per 100 possessions — and given that, his 36.1 three-point percentage was impressive as well. The most valuable part of Edwards' shooting production is his the speed of his release:
Sixers two-way wing Justin Edwards is shooting 34.1 percent from three-point range as an NBA rookie, but the quickness of his release stands out: pic.twitter.com/7okY7Ve8CM
— Adam Aaronson's clips (@SixersAdamClips) January 24, 2025
If Edwards' success rate on these catch-and-shoot threes goes down, he will peak as a viable rotation wing who does not have quite enough offensive utility to be on the floor in high-leverage situations. If it goes up, his ceiling skyrockets. Suddenly, Edwards has the makings of an elite two-way role player wing that can contribute to high-level winning. The former certainly feels more likely than the latter, but further shooting development is within his range of outcomes.
Contract information
Edwards' contract includes a team option for the 2025-26 season worth $1,955,377. If the Sixers decline the option, Edwards would become a restricted free agent, enabling the Sixers to re-sign him on a longer-term deal should they choose to do so while also having the right to match any deal Edwards signs with another team. Edwards will be back on a standard contract; the only question is which salary cap mechanism will be used to make it happen.
MORE: Justin Edwards guarded the NBA's best, 'not backing down at all' as a rookie
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