With a nice little break in between games, the Philadelphia 76ers decided to give more than just their two-way players an opportunity to join the G League squad in Delaware for some action against the Maine Celtics.
Following the Sixers' victory against the Toronto Raptors on Thursday night, the team announced that they would assign Justin Edwards and Labaron Philon Jr. to the Delaware Blue Coats for Friday's action. For Philon, it was his G League debut. For Edwards, it was another night in the office for the veteran forward, who has found himself outside of the rotation early on.
As expected, both players started. Many eyes were focused on Philon, due to the fact that he's the Sixers' most recent first-round pick, but Edwards' performance would hold a lot of weight as well. Unfortunately, the decision to assign him to Delaware might've backfired, depending on the plan.
Tough night at the office
The Sixers' front office will have to work the phones at some point this season, and they don't have too many tradeable contracts. Edwards isn't making much, collecting $2.4 million for the season, but he could attract a team as a low-cost, high-upside filler in a trade.
However, a tough night on a G League court will hurt Edwards' value. If the Sixers are utilizing the G League opportunity as more than just getting a DNP-collector some burn while they're on a small break, then Friday's action backfired.
Edwards started and checked in for 30 minutes of action. He got a chance to get up 10 shots from the field, with half of them coming from beyond the arc. The result? A 1-for-10 showing. He missed all five of his three-point attempts.
The young veteran finished the game with just two points, four rebounds, one assist, one block, two steals, two turnovers, and four fouls. You would expect a third-year veteran, with 100 games of NBA experience, to go off in a G League setting. In that case, we would golf clap and say it's just the minor league. But what happens if said player struggles like this? It teases a sharp regression.
One game in early November doesn't define Edwards, but that's certainly the worst-case scenario for the Sixers. It doesn't help Edwards' value in a trade setting, and it doesn't convince Nick Nurse (in attendance, by the way) to go to Edwards when the Sixers need a spark off the bench.
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