Cavs should not target Anthony Edwards in 2020 NBA Draft

The inefficiency is off-putting, and there’s only so many shots to go around

Of course, the NCAA ended up canceling its winter and spring sports championships due to COVID-19 precaution, but the Georgia Bulldogs only had a 16-16 record this season, anyhow, and were 5-13 in SEC play.

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Now, I’m not going to kill Edwards for that, really, as he wasn’t playing at anything of a college basketball powerhouse with other notable draft prospects, such as at Duke or Kentucky.

Granted, the 6-foot-5, 225-pound Edwards didn’t necessarily disappoint for the Bulldogs, as he had 19.1 points, 5.2 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.3 steals per game, as indicated by Sports Reference.

However, the 18-year-old Edwards is going to play the 2 on most occasions at the NBA level, and he’s predominantly thought of to be a volume shooter/scorer, which is not what the Cleveland Cavaliers should be seeking out in the 2020 NBA Draft.

While I again understand that he was the primary focus defensively for opponents, Edwards’ effective field goal shooting clip of 47.3 percent this season was underwhelming, and his shot selection was anything but stellar.

Too often throughout the year and in SEC play, in particular, Edwards would be falling in love with contested long 2’s and for a superior athlete that could also often bull his way to the basket a bunch against smaller guards and/or less physical wings, Edwards should’ve willed his way to the cup more but instead, often was sucked into contested three-pointers.

Let’s keep in mind, he shot 29.4 percent on 7.7 three-point attempts per contest, and initially, I bought into Edwards more, but how stubborn he was in that regard and not driving nearly as often as he could’ve in some matchups, was off-putting. At times, though, Edwards displayed his ability to go on stretches of hitting high-difficult shots, and I don’t take that away from him.

The Cleveland Cavaliers, though, currently have Collin Sexton, who has been their leading scorer in 2019-20 with 20.8 points per game, to go with a youngster with good playmaking instincts in Darius Garland, Kevin Porter Jr., Cedi Osman and at least currently, Kevin Love, and Andre Drummond (who could very well opt into his $28.8 million player option for next season), to go with Larry Nance Jr., who needs his touches for scoring/playmaking purposes, too.

Let’s also not forget Dylan Windler, who will likely be missing his whole rookie season due to a stress reaction in his left leg, but especially with the start of next season potentially delayed due to the NBA’s suspension, I’d imagine Windler could be a key reserve piece next season as a sharpshooter and at times, secondary ball-handler/playmaker.

In addition, while he hasn’t played a bunch consistently throughout his year, Matthew Dellavedova (a team-leading 5.5 assists per game post-All-Star break, per NBA.com) has continued to show that he’s a meaningful contributor as a reserve and I believe should be brought back next season on a team-friendly deal.

Factoring in all of that, I wouldn’t want Cleveland to be targeting Edwards in the upcoming draft.

He’s going to be another player that’s going to be needing the ball in his hands often, and he doesn’t project as a player like Porter that has shown good passing instincts.