No. 1 pick candidate Anthony Edwards signs with Klutch Sports
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Anthony Edwards Rumors
Warriors likely taking Anthony Edwards if they land first pick
Sources have indicated to The Chronicle that, if the Warriors land the No. 1 pick and decide not to trade down, they’ll likely take Georgia’s Anthony Edwards. If Golden State lands anywhere between No. 2 and No. 5, it’ll strongly consider Iowa State’s Tyrese Haliburton, Auburn’s Isaac Okoro and Israel’s Deni Avdija, among others.
For now, I’m told Avdija is in a large cluster of players in the second tier. That’s how the Cavs are grouping these prospects at the moment. The first tier consists of, in no particular order, Georgia’s Anthony Edwards, Memphis center James Wiseman and LaMelo Ball.
Chad Ford: Lot of teams that I’ve spoken with, they don’t have LaMelo No. 1, Edwards is the guy that is often the other guy that you hear at No. 1, his range was exactly the same as LaMelo’s. I heard him as high as one never heard him lower than five. Chad Ford on Killian Hayes: He’s been mentioned anywhere from three to 10 on the NBA teams that I’ve that I’ve spoken with, and he really has seemed to rise over the last couple of months as well.
The bust potential is high once again, in what some are considering the weakest draft since Anthony Bennett was selected No. 1 overall in 2013. With little consensus on who the best player is, it’s anybody’s guess who Warriors GM Bob Myers — two-time Executive of the Year — has his eye on. Well, unless you’re Warriors beat writer Connor Letourneau, who told Murph & Mac that sources around the team have informed him Golden State will select wing-scorer Anthony Edwards out of Georgia if they land the No. 1 pick. “This is a draft where there isn’t a ton of certainty up high,” Letourneau began. “The top five picks are kind of in flux. There isn’t a Zion type talent, there isn’t a LeBron, so teams really have to do their research and be careful who they are picking.
Most executives currently expect the first three prospects to come off the board to be Georgia wing Anthony Edwards, Illawarra guard LaMelo Ball, and Memphis center James Wiseman. But it’s too early to say where each prospect will go when opinions vary so greatly. I’ve spoken with NBA executives who have Wiseman first, and others who have him ranked outside of the top 10. Edwards has been labeled a boom-or-bust prospect. And I’ve heard LaMelo called both “underrated” and “overrated” because of his family’s last name. Hayes also has his skeptics.
Georgia’s Anthony Edwards is the kind of power athlete with length who typically appeals to the Orlando front office, although he may not be available beyond No. 1 given that his is the name I hear most often when I ask NBA executives to name their favorite prospect in the class. An explosive scorer at 6-foot-5, Edwards still has a ways to go in terms of his approach on defense. But no one has more upside as a pure scorer — something Orlando desperately needs. To me, those are the two highest-upside guys in this class, and Orlando would do extremely well to acquire either.
Anthony Edwards, SG, Georgia (6-3, 225, 18 years old): If the Warriors land the No. 1 pick in the draft, they’ll be open to trading it. But if Golden State doesn’t receive a worthy offer, it would likely take Edwards with the top selection, according to a league source.
It’s not as if the top-rated talent—prospects such as Anthony Edwards, LaMelo Ball and James Wiseman—won’t still be among the first half-dozen players taken, but the exact order at the top, along with decisions made throughout the draft, could be based more on actual performance than perceived potential this year. “This is a basketball person’s draft, based on actual basketball play,” the front-office executive says. “The high-ranking decision-makers who have been working all year aren’t going to miss a beat. It’s going to expose the GMs who were flying around with their teams staying in Four Seasons rather than going [to scout] in Dayton, Ohio, and staying at the Courtyard Marriott. If there are no more data points coming in, they’re screwed.”
Potential top pick Anthony Edwards entering draft
Potential No. 1 pick and Georgia standout Anthony Edwards is entering the NBA Draft, he tells 247Sports. “I just want to declare for the 2020 NBA Draft,” Edwards said.
“I think I should go number one, no doubt,” Edwards told 247Sports. “That’s the only place I think I should go.” Edwards signed this week with Octagon agent Omar Wilkes for his professional representation, per multiple sources. Wilkes has represented top 10 picks — Trae Young and Cam Reddish — in each of the past two NBA Drafts.
Octagon: We’re excited to welcome @UGABasketball standout Anthony Edwards (@theantman05) to the #OctagonFamily.
25 Jan
John Hollinger: Here at Geogia’s Stegeman Coliseum, where 31 NBA scouts are on hand to see Georgia’s Anthony Edwards take on Kentucky’s Tyrese Maxey in a battle of likely lotto picks
“[Edwards] is a pro, everything about him. Athleticism. Skill. The ability to score,” one NBA scout told The Undefeated. “He can defend. He is one of those guys that will be better on the next level because he will be playing with better teammates. When he walks onto the floor, you have the feeling that you’re watching a pro. And then the game starts and he shows you he is one with his versatility and skill.”
ESPN.com currently ranks Edwards as the second-best prospect in the 2020 draft behind Australia NBL guard LaMelo Ball. Former University of Memphis center James Wiseman is also in the mix for the top pick. If Edwards continues his trajectory, he would join Wilkins as the only Bulldogs to be drafted in the top 5. “That’s my dream, to be the No. 1 pick,” Edwards said. “So, all I’m doing is just working hard. And whoever gets the pick, they will do whatever they want to do with. I just pray it would be me.” In the meantime, he is happy to be representing Georgia.
So, does LaMelo Ball believe he should be the No. 1 overall pick in the draft? “Most definitely. I believe in myself and I’ve worked hard to get here,” Ball told Yahoo Sports. “The other guys at the top of the draft, James [Wiseman] and Anthony [Edwards], are very talented too. But just in the way I believe in myself, I think I’m the top pick.”
In NBA circles, not much of a consensus has formed with regard to the top spot. A strong performance from Anthony Edwards at the Maui Invitational certainly bolstered the Georgia guard’s case. While Memphis center James Wiseman remains suspended until January, teams in dire need of a big will look at him closely. Both are very much in the running, and the general feeling about the top of the draft remains lukewarm. As one Eastern Conference executive put it: “We can only draft what’s there.” And as December begins, the situation is legitimately still evolving, in dire contrast to last season, when it took approximately a week for Zion Williamson to make things easy for everybody.
