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It’s not yet clear what the Rockets gave the Utah Jazz in exchange for the right to draft Purdue senior small forward Vince Edwards with the 52nd pick. It likely wasn’t much. Perhaps some cash and/or one of those highly protected future second round picks.
The 6’8” Edwards didn’t exactly have a college career that put him high on anyone’s draft boards. The 22 year-old averaged 15 points and 7 rebounds in his fourth and final year and seems to be a long shot to make the Rockets roster coming out of camp.
Offensively, he’s described as a versatile scorer who lacks any elite skills and could struggle against NBA talent. Defensively, it’s even worse.
SB Nation’s Purdue site Hammer and Nails has concerns...and they would know:
[...]Edwards career will almost certainly hang on this question: can he defend at an NBA level? He’s shown spurts of being a solid defender, his 7-foot wingspan is great, and it’s given college basketball a lot of highlight chase down blocks. But he loses his defender too much on defense, lacks the strength to bang inside against real bigs, and appears slow-footed on defense against quicker players. Is there a defensive position for him? His body says 3 and D, but he’s never had a block or steal % above 2 in either category his entire career.
We’ll dig more into Edwards in the coming days. Meanwhile, I wouldn’t get your hopes up too high. Guys like this rarely stick in the NBA. But then again, who are we to question the NBA’s Executive of the Year?