2020 NBA Draft prospect Anthony Edwards could help the Cavs defensively

Reason #2 Edwards could help the Cleveland Cavaliers defense: The NBA stage could add the motivation needed for him to thrive there

One of the most noticeable factors of Anthony Edwards’ defense was inconsistent effort, or so it seemed, to a large degree. As many NBA scouts know, there are instances where a college prospect is a poor defender simply due to a lack of motivation. This especially can be the case on teams that aren’t really too competitive on the college basketball stage.

The Georgia Bulldogs finished their season with a record of 16-16. Georgia was not a great team and lots of their offensive success came from Edwards himself. Playing for a poor team can lead to a player becoming disengaged or uninterested on defense.

Even if you have a player like Edwards who is a physical specimen at the shooting guard position, if they aren’t fully engaged on defense, they will struggle on that side of the ball and Edwards seemed to have issues there at times off-ball, in particular.

Having a strong program and a reason to give max effort on defense would likely give Edwards the motivation needed to become a solid defender at least. But as was mentioned earlier, for this scenario to take place, Edwards would need strong coaching from Bickerstaff and company.

Coaching is going to be a strong factor for Edwards’ defensive improvement, because he’s got the size and he has shown in flashes that he can be an elite defender at some point. In addition, as KJG’s Robbie DiPaola also previously alluded to, Edwards did lead Georgia in steals with 1.3 per game in 2019-20.

But the 2020 NBA Draft prospect simply needs more consistent coaching and better teammates around him to have the motivation needed to be a great NBA defender, and the NBA stage could bring out max effort from Edwards defensively.

Offense is the main selling point of the Anthony Edwards draft stock, but he does have the potential to be a strong defender at the NBA level. The big question that Altman would have to consider is if the Cavaliers are in a situation strong enough that Edwards will have the opportunity to develop his defensive game.

If the conclusion to that is yes, then the Cleveland Cavaliers would be lucky to have Edwards added to their roster.