Boston Celtics: The best- and worst- case scenarios for Carsen Edwards’ career
By Mark Nilon
Carsen Edwards’ rookie season so far has been a roller-coaster ride with seemingly more lows than highs. What might the future look like for the young Boston Celtics guard?
When the Boston Celtics selected Carsen Edwards 33rd overall in the 2019 NBA draft, the front office and the team’s fanbase believed the franchise got an absolute steal. Heck, even we here at the Houdini hopped on the excitement train, claiming he had the potential to be the team’s most impactful player of the C’s rookie class.
As the offseason rolled along, the hype surrounding the young guard continued to grow. Throughout the NBA’s Summer League, Edwards became one of the Association’s most buzzed about rookies, as he managed to average 19.4 points, 3.8 boards, 1.4 assists and one steal per game on 48% shooting from the field and 46.7% shooting from deep.
However, now 45 games into the regular season, it appears the hype has somewhat fizzled out as the rookie has underwhelmed while on the court, has struggled to attain consistent minutes and has gone back and forth between Boston and Maine, playing with the team’s G-League affiliate the Maine Red Claws.
Playing in 29 games, the 21-year-old has averaged 3.2 points and .8 assists per game on 31% shooting from the field and 31% shooting from 3.
While rookie struggles are nothing new for first year players, it is a bit concerning to see how far from grace Edwards has fallen after such an illustrious collegiate career, Summer League and preseason showing (averaged 15.3 points on 45% shooting from deep).
Let me get this out of the way: by no means am I writing off the combo guard in just his rookie season. He has exhibited the capability of being able to dominate on the hardwood, and has shown flashes of brilliance throughout all the levels of his playing career up to this point.
Having said that, it also must be stated that we have seen players of his talent never quite acclimate themselves to the NBA.
There are many trajectories the rookie’s career could potentially take. Using recent players as examples, here are the best and worst case scenarios for Carsen Edwards’ career.