Could Carsen Edwards be the right pick for the OKC Thunder?

Awards and Honors:

• Named All-Big Ten (2018, 2019)
• Big Ten Preseason Player of the Year (2018-19 season)
• Big Ten player of the year (2019)
• NCAA South Region Most Outstanding Player (2019)
• Second Team All-American (2019)

Full List

Pro Comparison:

Kevin O’Connor of the Ringer compares Carsen Edwards to Shabazz Napier and Lou Williams. I lean towards Lou Williams. A career sixth man who will provide a spark and offense off the pine for an NBA team for a long, long time.

Current Ranking:

• The Ringer: 27
• NBA DraftNet: 39
• ESPN (Note: from a paid portion of the site, ESPN+): 28
• NBA.com: 23
• Sports Illustrated: 25
• Basketball Insiders: 16
• NBC: 27

Fit with OKC

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• Aleksej Pokusevski sidelined approximately 6 weeks with ankle injury
• Damian Lillard does not fit with the OKC Thunder

Okay, here we go, sit back relax and let me sell you on Carsen Edwards.

This draft is unbelievably shallow, making it almost impossible to predict. At you can tell, Basketball Insider has Edwards at 16, and NBA Draft Net lists him at 39.

21 might be a bit high, and no one is calling for Edwards over Cam Johnson, Tyler Herro, and the like if they are available. But what if those two guys, who seem to be OKC Thunder Twitter’s favorite NBA Draft prospects (and as the pre draft coverage rolls on you will see how we feel at Thunderous Intentions about the pair), are off the board at 21, does Edwards fit?

Sure. Again, it is a shallow draft, and I will struggle to call anyone a reach in this class.

What does Carsen Edwards provide for the OKC Thunder? Well, the biggest resource is his roster flexibility.

Edwards can score, and create his own offense, things the OKC Thunder need off the bench with the second unit. But wait, they already have that in Dennis Schroder? Exactly.

Carsen Edwards would allow the OKC Thunder to ship off Dennis Schroder, and his contract, and get something in return to bolster the team. If the Thunder are going to make improvements to the roster, they are going to need to do it via the trade market if you look at their salary cap situation. Their only trade assets that could realistically be moved are Steven Adams and Dennis Schroder, and Schroder is much more replaceable.

Despite the experts being all over the board on Carsen Edwards, I would be thrilled if he ended up in an OKC Thunder uniform. No matter if that is at pick 21, or via Presti buying into the second round or trading from pick 21 down the latter in the first round.