Boston Celtics: Carsen Edwards is the perfect spark plug off the bench

After an impressive Las Vegas Summer League, Carsen Edwards has proven he’s capable of producing at the next level. The Boston Celtics will surely benefit by having him come off the pine in 2019-20.

Had it not been for his smallish stature of 6-1, 201 pounds, Boston Celtics rookie Carsen Edwards may have been selected somewhere within the lottery. A two-time first-team All-Big Ten selection who averaged 24.3 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.3 steals in his final season at Purdue, the combo guard proved to be one of the most menacing offensive weapons at the collegiate level in 2018.

And yet, in this past June’s draft, Edwards found himself being the third player off the board in the second round by the Philadelphia 76ers who, then, traded the pick to the Celtics. Though second round selections don’t often stir up much hype, the 21-year-old seems to be the exception.

During this year’s Las Vegas Summer League, Edwards became one of the most talked about rookies. Per 36 minutes the guard averaged a whopping 29.8 points per contest while shooting 46.7% from deep and netted a true shooting percentage of 64.3%.

With his level of play, Edwards managed to net himself a four year, $4.5 million guaranteed contract with the Celtics. Though Boston fans many may be intrigued as to why the second rounder received a four year guaranteed deal when a first rounder’s contract is only guaranteed for the first two seasons, make no mistake about it, Beantown has themselves a very promising prospect.

In terms of his fit with the team, Edwards seems to be the ideal player — specifically on offense. Brad Stevens’ system is heavily reliant on the point guard moving without the ball and getting open for a “catch-and-shoot” opportunity. Last season, the Boston Celtics finished third in this area, averaging 29.7 attempts from the field and 25.5 from deep.

So how does this relate back to Edwards?

In college, 12% of his shot attempts were off catch-and-shoots, where he managed to convert at an impressive 1.048 point clip per possession. With this, the combo guard saw himself finish within the 75th percentile of this statistic.

Upon watching him play both in college and during this year’s Summer League, it is apparent that Edwards is just as effective off the ball as he is on. His crafty handles as well as his quick shooting motion allows him to excel offensively when handling the rock. However, when playing alongside a primary ball handler — which he is likely to do in Boston — Edwards has shown an affinity to make shots off screens and proved very capable of finding space for kick-out opportunities.

Carsen Edwards was by no means added to this roster to be the dominant ball handler. He is best viewed as a quality contributor off the bench for this Celtics squad. With Terry Rozier now in Charolette, Boston is void of a change of pace type of player to come in off the pine and get the second unit rolling.

Edwards could very well be that guy in 2019-20.

Put him on ball and he can dazzle with a quick crossover and get his shot up before the defender even realizes. Use him off ball and watch him sift through a defense to find an opening for an easy catch-and-shoot opportunity.

Either way, the combo guard will have every opportunity to succeed in Coach Stevens’ offense during the 2019 season. Boston seems to have their ideal spark plug coming off the bench in Carsen Edwards.