Carsen Edwards could be an interesting starter.
G: Edwards
G: Smart
F: Jaylen
F: Tatum
C: Theis
Keep Jeff Teague and Tristan Thompson to bench roles to provide experience and stability to an inexperienced bench. You have Grant Williams there as well.
Let Smart start at PG and run the team. Let Edwards come in and play a low pressure role next to the stars. He doesn't need to do anything fancy. Just take outside shots inside the flow of the offense. A minor role to let him / help him get comfortable. Let Smart defend SGs. Carsen defend PGs. Edwards gives you some extra ball handling security.
A bit similar to letting Scalabrine start when KG was injured. Move him into a 18mpg starting role. Let the main bench players keep their primary roles and keep the main rotation in tact. Put a lesser talent bench player in as starter. Someone who can spread the floor and just keep things ticking along.
I have no doubt that Carsen Edwards could be an interesting starter, in fact I'm sure Carsen Edwards would be an interesting starter. Talk about thinking outside the box. TP for the idea.
i think you misspelled the word "inadequate."
i root for edwards a lot. but given his play last year, he would have to have one heck of a pre-season to earn a starting position.
He'd definitely be an interesting starter in China.
A TP for that wit. Well played, sir.
But I think that you’re underestimating him. Boston gave him a contract with a low risk to the team - and a recognition that it might take a while.
I think that a couple of things are clear going forward: he can get an open shot for himself; and he’s a competitor.
That first is more important than it might appear to the casual fan, who likely replies, “So what, he’s got to make them!” - which is a good point, as far as it goes. Does that mean his upside is Terry Rozier with less length? Maybe.
Terry’s role expanded in Charlotte, with a modest uptick in assist% - and also in turnover %. Those numbers look about like Marcus Smart’s. Mostly the shots he creates are for himself. He shot over .400 from 3, which is golden, especially for a guy who can get a shot off the dribble and isn’t afraid of the moment. As we saw when he was in Boston, he got into the paint off the dribble, too, though his finishing was uninspiring.
Carsen did one thing last year that Terry has never come close to and that is in fact rare in the NBA - he was effective on the dreaded long 2’s - .529 on a small but not useless sample size (17 shots). He’s got a couple of different ways of getting those shots off the dribble with a shot fake at the arc and one or two dribbles going either right or left into that big open area that NBA defenses are mostly conceding nowadays. A guy who can reliably get you more than a point on a possession is an asset on offense.
Will Edwards eventually shoot at least an average % from 3? I’d bet on it. The form is excellent, the drive to improve is there, and he’s already got sidestep moves to either side to get a good look at the rim. The safety valve move to the wide-open long 2 is golden if last year’s % is real. That alternative means he’s not stuck with having to take a challenged 3 on a short clock.
The rosiest scenario is something like: Isaiah Thomas with better defense. But he’s got two high bars to get over first: he’s got to get to the rim and finish; and he’s got to get shots for his teammates. The first of those looks more likely, but he’s got a long way to go with the second. For my money, those are the two things to watch.
He’s an NBA player. I wouldn’t predict that he’ll retire in Boston, but I would predict that he’ll have a long career.