Kessler Edwards goes to the Brooklyn Nets: Heres what theyre getting

It was during Kessler Edwards’ sophomore year at Pepperdine when he upped his work ethic to a new level. This isn’t to say he wasn’t focused or determined prior to the 2019-20 season, but there was a point when he brought his discipline to a greater degree. Observers took notice. Pepperdine coach Lorenzo Romar remembers how Edwards devoted more time to tone his body and add muscle. After practice, he grabbed a basketball and shot jump shot after jump shot, many falling cleanly through the net.

Advertisement

From that point on, Edwards carried a new confidence. Maybe, Romar says, he realized he had a serious future in this game after a productive freshman season. Maybe it was something else. Whatever the reason, Edwards ascended from a respectable college forward into an NBA prospect. “I can’t remember a day after practice where he wasn’t shooting a lot on his own,” Romar recalled. “He became a really good worker, and you could see the results.”

The latest result came Thursday night in the 2021 NBA Draft, where Edwards, 20, was selected by Brooklyn Nets with the 44th pick. The first-team all-West Coast Conference wing is coming off a strong junior season in which he averaged 17.2 points and 6.8 rebounds while shooting 38 percent from 3. He brings good size, defensive versatility and outside shooting. He’s also an excellent free-throw shooter after knocking down 88 percent of his attempts at the line, one of the top marks in the country. He projects as a floor-spacer at the NBA level.

“I’m a fan of Edwards purely because the shooting and defense combination is good enough for him to make an impact,” The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie writes. “It’s hard to find guys who can shoot off movement like this at 6-foot-8. The shot mechanics are funky, but if he can run off screens like this and force defenders out onto him, he can be a pretty effective floor-spacer. And then on top of it, he has real defensive value due to his weak side rim protection as well as his instinctual awareness. Edwards should play in the NBA for a while as a useful floor-spacer and solid team defender.”

Edwards was a late bloomer who grew up in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. He shot up to about 6-foot-7 before college and graduated high school as a consensus three-star recruit with a few high-major schools involved in his recruitment by the end. But he opted for Pepperdine to play alongside his older brother, Kameron. He grew steadily each year, making the all-freshman team in the WCC and then expanding his game substantially as a sophomore, when he made second-team All-WCC. He led the conference in blocks and averaged more than one steal per game. As a junior, he made first-team All-WCC, showcasing his great size at the wing (he has a 6-11 wingspan) and a nice shooting touch.

Advertisement

What Edwards does before he catches and releases the ball off screens further distinguishes him. He is an excellent off-ball offensive player who almost always shuffles his feet as he searches for openings around the 3-point line. Although he isn’t a superb athlete, he’s good laterally. And although his mechanics aren’t textbook — the ball sits in front of his face before release, similar to a push shot — he finds balance and rhythm, and he shoots quickly. He’s respectable around the basket and will drive through an opening toward the basket when it’s available. He also is a sharp cutter and times his runs well from the corners, which should be applicable to his NBA role, as Vecenie notes.

He’s not a great ball-handler or shooter off the dribble, which is why he was not a first-round selection. Defensively, however, he’s a good on-ball defender who slides his feet well. He’s got size to defend forwards of all types, and a sturdy work ethic to help him keep improving.

One of Romar’s favorite memories of Edwards isn’t a big game, monster dunk or barrage of 3s. It was in how Edwards approached his weaknesses. Entering his freshman year, in 2018, Edwards didn’t put the ball on the floor all that well. He was just an OK shooter. Before a game that year, Romar was direct with him, saying something along the lines of: “Kess, when the season is over, something you can do is work on your ball-handling skills.” But Edwards didn’t wait for the season to end. He began conducting personal drills with Michael Wexler, the team’s graduate manager.

“He’s so coachable,” Romar said. “As good as he was for us, he never told guys, ‘Give me the ball.’ When we played UCLA, then San Diego State, he was the best player on the floor at times. To see that from where he started, it was special.”

(Photo: Jayne Kamin-Oncea / Getty Images)

ncG1vNJzZmismJqutbTLnquim16YvK57kXBqbWtka3xzfJFqZmlvX2eGcLfErKqlnaJisqXDwKubrGWXpLK0edOoZK2glWKvs7vOpKOypl2jsrW%2FjKGcq52jYsSprdNmq6GdqaeybrPErauippdk