LOUISVILLE Ky. (WDRB) — Starting his career in the NBA Summer League as an undrafted free agent, former University of Kentucky freshman Justin Edwards said he was the best player in the NBA Draft last month, even though he was not selected.
Edwards made that analysis to Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer in a story that was posted at the paper’s website Tuesday morning.
Edwards also said that his slow start playing for John Calipari and the Wildcats last season was the result of his “dealing with mental health issues.”
Edwards, a 6-foot-6-inch wing, came to Kentucky last summer as the No. 3-ranked recruit in the Class of 2023. He became the first consensus top-three recruit to go undrafted in the history of college recruiting services.
Edwards ranked sixth on the Wildcats in scoring, averaging 8.8 points and 3.4 rebounds. He made 48.6% of his field goal attempts and 36.5% from distance.
That was not enough to make Edwards one of the 58 players selected in the two-round NBA Draft at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, on June 26. Three of his UK teammates were selected: guard Reed Sheppard went No. 3 to Houston, guard Rob Dillingham landed with Minnesota after being picked No. 8, and guard Antonio Reeves was selected No. 47 and will start his career with New Orleans.
Edwards signed a two-way free agent contract with the Philadelphia 76ers, his hometown team. He averaged 6 points, 3 rebounds 1.3 assists and 1.3 steals for the Sixers last week in summer league play in Salt Lake City. Edwards scored 3 and 12 points in two additional games for Philly’s team currently competing in the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas.
That has not shaken Edwards’ confidence. He told Pompey, “I feel like I was the best player in the draft.
“But I’ve been coming from behind my entire life, so it ain’t nothing, really. It’s just another wall I got to run through. I’m going to get through another obstacle so I’ll be cared for.”
After scoring in double figures in six of UK’s first eight games, Edwards went through a stretch where he missed 15 of 17 three-point attempts and lost playing time.
He did appear to play some of his best basketball down the stretch, averaging 11.1 points over the last seven games, including 28 in UK’s 117-95 win over Alabama. With 10 points in only 15 minutes, Edwards was UK’s third-leading scorer in the Wildcats’ jarring season-ending upset loss to Oakland in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
“I feel like the way I performed my first half of the season (explains why he was not drafted),” Edwards told Pompey.
“My first half of the season, I was dealing with mental health. So that played a big part in why I played the way I played.
“So that second half of the season, when I started to play better, I think I averaged double digits, like 13 or something like that, the second half of the season. But I feel like it was kind of too late at that point.”
As a player on a two-way contract, Edwards is likely to split time between the Sixers and the G-League, where he can earn more time and develop. Playing in his hometown should be a benefit.
“Right now, they told me just to guard and play defense,” he said. “And they’re telling me to be (myself). In order to play with Paul George, I feel like I have to be able to guard and hit open shots, honestly.”
The Sixers had the seventh-best record in the Eastern Conference last season. They added George, a top free agent, to a roster that features Olympian Joe Embiid and former UK guard Tyrese Maxey.
Philadelphia drafted Duke guard Jared McClain at No. 16 and UCLA center Adam Bona No. 41.
