Carsen Edwards won't be unsigned for much longer. The No. 33 overall pick of the 2019 NBA Draft is reportedly engaged in contract discussions with the Boston Celtics, parsing through options related to guarantees before putting pen to paper, according to Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe.
Hearing that the Celtics have been having contract discussions with second-round pick Carsen Edwards, looking at a few different concepts related to guarantees etc.
— Adam Himmelsbach (@AdamHimmelsbach) July 8, 2019
Unlike their classmates selected in the first round, second-round picks aren't entitled to a guaranteed contract under league rules. It's become increasingly popular, however, for teams to at least partially guarantee contracts signed by second-rounders as another means of locking in young, cheap talent.
Edwards' status as an early second-round selection always made it likely he would earn guaranteed money on his first contract, but his performance in the early stages of Summer League might have made Boston a bit more hasty to get a deal done. He's averaged 17.0 points and 2.0 steals over the Celtics' first two contests in Las Vegas, putting his rare shot-making ability on frequent display en route to 48 percent shooting overall and 38.9 percent from deep on a whopping 18 total three-point attempts.
At just six feet tall without natural point guard skills, Edwards' path to lasting NBA relevancy is almost surely as a scoring guard off the bench. He averaged 24.3 points per game during his final season at Purdue, earning Second Team All-American honors, but was clearly a bit overstretched as the Boilermakers' top playmaker and shot-creator.
Boston, revamped after losing Kyrie Irving and Al Horford but bringing in Kemba Walker, will need to find some scoring punch from its new corps of reserves this season. If Edwards continues shining in Summer League, don't be surprised if he earns early-season minutes as a rookie under Brad Stevens.
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