Justin Edwards was one of the Philadelphia 76ers’ hidden gems this past season – recording one of the most impressive and overlooked rookie campaigns in the NBA. However, the 76ers front office recognized the talent on their hands and wasted no time locking him up for the foreseeable future.
According to Shams Charania of ESPN, Philadelphia has declined Edwards’ $1.9 million player option and intends to sign him to a three-year contract. He’ll receive two guaranteed years on this new deal and will make $2 million next season. As Austin Krell of On Pattison mentioned on X, Edwards will have three years of NBA experience by the end of this new contract, the 76ers will be able to inherit his full bird rights.
This means Philadelphia can later re-sign him to a longer, more expensive contract, regardless of its future payroll implications. The 76ers are having a busy day as they declined Jared Butler’s $2.3 million player option and Andre Drummond accepted his $5 million player option this afternoon.
The 76ers got an absolute steal
Philadelphia signed Edwards to a two-way deal as an undrafted free agent last offseason and he quickly rose up the ranks. As the 76ers’ injuries started to pile up, he transformed into a mainstay of its rotation. In the 76ers’ 118-102 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, Edwards posted a career-best 25 points on 9-16 shooting from the field, six rebounds, and four assists.
This marked a coming-out party of sorts for Edwards, who never looked back and was signed to a standard NBA contract for the remainder of the season. He appeared in 44 games and put up 10.1 points per game on 55.9% true-shooting. Edwards also produced 3.4 rebounds per game and 1.6 steals per game.
Is there a world where Justin Edwards starts alongside Paul George 🤔pic.twitter.com/VzheyQvcOs
— Jacob Moreno (@jmoreno76ers) June 27, 2025
Throughout the season, he showed promising flashes of becoming a high-level two-way forward that could stick around in Philadelphia for a long time. Edwards was a capable spot-up shooter as he knocked down 36.3% of his threes on 4.3 attempts per game. Keep in mind, he played sizable minutes primarily during the 76ers’ tank, so his efficiency will only improve playing alongside Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, and Paul George.
Edwards also displayed quality point-of-attack defense for a rookie and only has room to grow as a versatile defender. Still, there’s more to the Kentucky product than just being a 3&D player. While it wasn’t always pretty, Edwards showcased the ability to get it off the dribble, attack the rim, and convert on mid-range pull-up jumpers. With such scoring variety and scoring prowess, he has the tools to eventually become a long-time starter for the 76ers.