2020 NBA Draft profile: Anthony Edwards another Zach LaVine?

Overall Grade

As far as projecting Edwards’ future role and impact in the league, let’s rewind and hit on the key points of his evaluation: a 6’5″ shooting guard who operates best within the offense as an isolation scorer but lacks the overall awareness and understanding to create opportunities for others on a consistent basis. Defensively he lacks the same capacity to play consistently in space and off the ball but can create problems for an opposing match-up on-ball.

Comparisons can sometimes fall short when projecting a player’s career arc because not every one is valid and applicable depending on other circumstances behind a player’s development.

One that stands out clearly to me though is Chicago Bulls guard Zach LaVine.

What makes the two of them clear comparisons?

When LaVine came out of UCLA, he was billed by scouts as a combo guard whose potential lied in becoming an initiator on offense and ultimately transitioning to point guard. With his ability to score from all three levels in a variety of situations, if he could pick up on certain playmaking nuances he’d be a bonafide star and potential top-10 player in the NBA.

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LaVine fell short not because of his scoring ability, but in his ability to make others better around him. Has he become a much better distributor while he’s been in the league? Certainly. But he’s not a full-time floor general, and operates best when he has someone next to him who can take that pressure off of him.

Anthony Edwards is likely to end up the same way, doing best when he has a guy next to him who can get others involved letting him just take advantage of his isolation strengths as a pure scoring guard.

The difference between Edwards and someone like the Phoenix Suns‘ Devin Booker is in the basketball IQ, as Booker has proven that while having someone like Ricky Rubio next to him brings out the best in his efficiency, he can play point in a pinch.

LaVine has proven himself as a fringe All-Star and lock 20-plus PPG scoring threat. Edwards can find himself on the same trajectory as long as he continues to work hard and deepen his understanding of the game on both ends, while potentially bringing more to the table being a much more physically developed guard at this stage of his career than LaVine arguably ever was.

Where the comparison could take a turn for the worst is if Edwards becomes stagnant and aloof at times, not giving the same effort we’ve seen so far in college and lacking that assertiveness to take advantage of more of his physical gifts, similar to what we’ve seen out of Golden State Warriors wing Andrew Wiggins.

All of that being said, Edwards deserves a top grade in this class and is likely a top three pick in the draft barring major unforeseen circumstances.

He could absolutely end up on another team on his rookie contract or shortly thereafter like LaVine, but that’s not a guarantee.

Whichever team drafts Edwards, they’re getting a guy who can get a bucket on almost any possession when put in the right position to succeed. Give him too much responsibility, however, and he has the chance to disappoint.

Let’s hope the right team sets Anthony Edwards free and lets him fill it up in the correct secondary role.

Projection: Top 3 Pick