The Dallas Mavericks have agreed to terms for a two-way contract with Kessler Edwards, according to Shams Charania of the Athletic.
Edwards is a four-year NBA veteran, spending last season with the Sacramento Kings. He was drafted in the second round of the 2021 NBA Draft by Brooklyn with the 44th overall selection.
During his rookie campaign, Edwards played 48 games with the Nets despite being on a two-way deal. He earned significant minutes (20.6) while putting up decent box score statistics: 5.9 points, 2.7 rebounds, 0.6 steals, and 0.6 blocks. Brooklyn signed him to a two-year contract with the team in July of 2022 but moved him in February of 2023 to the Sacramento Kings. He appeared in 51 games this past season but only played around five minutes a game. It seems he didn’t get much of a chance given Sacramento’s depth.
The 6’8” forward (with a 6’11” wingspan) joins a Dallas team that doesn’t have room on the depth chart, but a player of his length and experience is a fascinating get all the same. Offensively, he doesn’t bring much; he’s a reasonably good three-point shooter, but doesn’t shoot at volume and lacks much of an off-the-dribble game at the NBA level. Defensively, he’s solid, perhaps even good, possessing the movement skills and instincts needed to guard ball handlers.
I find this very exciting, as he’s the best professional basketball player to come out of my Alma Mater, Pepperdine, in quite some time. He came out after his junior year, where he’d played well for an underperforming team in a difficult West Coast Conference. So everyone look forward to me being irrationally positive about a player.
Edwards has a steep uphill battle to matter for the Mavericks, but this signing is another one in which it’s clear that the Dallas front office isn’t resting on its laurels. They continue to attempt to seek out undervalued assets and build a deep array of assets.
Let’s hope Edwards finds a way to make a positive impact as a member of the Dallas Mavericks organization.
2024-07-26T19:10:02Z dg43tfdfdgfd