Houston Rockets: Draftee Vince Edwards is a shooter but lacks one thing

The Houston Rockets were able to claw their way back in the draft, purchasing the 52nd pick from the Utah Jazz to land forward Vince Edwards in the NBA Draft last week. What’s there to say about him? Let’s look.

Houston Rockets fans — the NBA Draft has completed and the franchise was a lot more active in the draft than was expected. With the team only possessing the 46th pick, I had a feeling that the Houston Rockets were going to call it a night early.

But obviously I’ve underestimated Daryl Morey for one of the few times in his tenure. His work is never done and he found a way to pry in back into the draft to land a prospect that will hopefully help this team. Since the Houston Rockets made an investment to land Purdue forward Vince Williams, this guy might be sticking around for a bit.

I think he’s a terrific bargain at fringe end of the draft and could pay dividends as time goes on. This team certainly lacks depth on edges and these two draft picks could be around somewhere on this active roster but that’s pending on what happens in free agency and if we’re able to keep this team together.

The Houston Rockets selected De’Anthony Melton just six picks earlier to which they’re able to nab a incredibly-gifted guard that has a strong defensive mindset, is incredibly athletic but still has to work on his offensive repertoire. He’ll have time to do that as I’m sure he’ll be spending a lot of time with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.

But back to Vince Edwards. What makes him tick? What makes him stand out as a second-round

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steal? Let’s dive into it.

The 6-foot-8, 225-pound forward hails from the Buckeye State, playing his high school ball at Middletown High and found his way onto Purdue U. He has a Top 100 recruit out of high school and with all of his offers that were already flooding in early in high school, he finally made the commit to the Boilermakers.

Things paid of handsomely for Edwards, who was featured in their starting lineup early out of the gate being a key defensive presence as well as a guy who made an impact on the boards. Each Purdue team that he was on qualified for the NCAA Tourney every season he was uniform which explains part of why he was there all four years of his career.

It’s a rarity for guys to stay that long these days and I think he should be commended for it. Either he felt his value wasn’t quite high enough or he just loved being at Purdue. More than likely it was the first of the mentioned. Edwards had declared early for the draft in 2016 and 2017 but withdrew his name from consideration. That’s okay because he was trying to gauge where his value was.

In his last two seasons at Purdue, he was finalist for the Julius Erving Award that honors the small forward in college basketball. The namesake, of course, is derived from basketball legend and Hall of Famer in Erving. He also was honored with Big Ten second-team honors this past season.

But don’t take my word for it, here’s what the experts had to say about Edwards:

Jeremy Baumann and Josh Riddell of DraftExpress:

"“Edwards made a substantial leap in his three point shooting accuracy in his sophomore year, as he saw his percentages rise from 32.6% to 40.7% on 4.7 attempts per 40 minutes. There is still a substantial dip in his somewhat mechanical looking jump-shot, which can slow his release and renders him more ineffective when closely guarded, but it’s encouraging to see an uptick in his overall efficiency. If he can replicate his accuracy from the three point line as a junior, and speed up his release somewhat, it will go a long way in proving he can be a credible shooting threat from the perimeter at the NBA level.”"

Edwards’ NBA.com Draft Profile:

"“Versatility extends to the defensive end as well. Regularly guarded multiple positions as a senior as Purdue switched many actions. Plays with nice discipline both on and off the ball, but has room to be more aggressive. Doesn’t miss a lot of rotations, helps actively, and seldom misses a chance to get a hand up in the eyeline of opposing shooters. Had some good moments moving his feet on the perimeter, but also got beat to the rim in spots not always anticipating against creative slashers.”"

NBA.com also writes that he allowed 0.632 points per isolation possession and 0.417 points per Post Up play possession in his final year at Purdue which would be good for the 75th and 97th percentile respectively. That’s pretty damn good if you ask me.

So what is Edwards’ biggest weakness?

The consensus is that he’s not all that athletic. Unlike his counterpart in Melton who was drafted by the Houston Rockets earlier in the second round, that’s not Edwards’ calling card. Although he has an incredible frame with a wingspan of about seven feet, he just hasn’t been able to make the best of the gifts that his body has bestowed upon him. I don’t think that’s something the Rockets can fix but I do believe they can utilize his skill set to the max and make him an effective contributor in the pros.

Next: De'Anthony Melton ready to strut amid a dark cloud

But all in all, the Houston Rockets were able to get a versatile, combo forward who can play the three or four-spots at times and can effectively shoot threes. I think the rest will fall into place. His presence this season with be heavily predicated on how he performs this off season, especially in the NBA Summer League next month. We’ll have to see!

Edwards averaged 14.6 points, 7.4 rebounds and 2.9 assists through 35 games — all starts — with Boilermakers in 2017-18 with a shooting line of .476/.398/.833.

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