Justin Edwards held scoreless in NBA Summer League debut

Justin Edwards played the first game in his professional career on Monday in Salt Lake City, which is the NBA Summer League’s opening act (along with a few California games) before the main event begins in Las Vegas this weekend. This made Edwards the first Kentucky rookie to suit for his new team. Sadly, suit-up is about all he did.

Edwards put a goose egg in the score column after starting and playing 18 minutes for the Philadelphia 76ers. He finished 0-2 from the field, including 0-1 from behind the arc. The rest of his stat line wasn’t much better, as he only had one rebound, one assist, one steal, and two turnovers.

He did, however, have a game-high +11 in the plus-minus category, so there’s that.

I’ve suffered through enough hours of watching Summer League basketball to know that in this setting, fortune favors the aggressive. Unlike a team-oriented college game, all these guys are playing for their livelihoods, so everyone is out to get theirs and make an impression on a team that might be willing to pay them for their basketball prowess.

Unfortunately, throughout the game, Edwards just kind of floated on the perimeter or in the corner and on the rare chance he got the ball, did not make any asserted effort to attack.

Watching his timidness reminded me of the Edwards we saw in the first month or two at Kentucky before he found his stride midway through the season.

To make matters worse for members of Big Blue Nation with a keen interest in the alma mater of NBA players, the star of the game was former Arkansas Razorback, Ricky Council IV. Council looked borderline selfish at times, but it resulted in a game-high 29 points and eight rebounds.

Tre Mitchell got tagged with a DNP

We hoped to also see the professional debut of Tre Mitchell for the Oklahoma City Thunder, but he did not get in the game. Before you get too disappointed, is important to remember that the Summer League is weird. There are 18 men on the OKC roster so getting everyone in every game is impossible. Plus, with games played on three consecutive nights, coaches have to get creative with minutes. Look for Mitchell to see some action Tuesday at 9:00 pm on ESPN 2 against the Jazz or Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. on NBATV against the Grizzlies.

Similarly, Edwards may or may not play in the Sixers’ matchups Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. on ESPN against Memphis or Wednesday at 9:00 p.m. on ESPN2 against Utah.

In my best impression of The Rock, the final score of the game was…it doesn’t matter was the final score was! No really, the final score in a t-ball game full of six-year-olds carries more weight than that of an NBA Summer League contest, especially one in Salt Lake City.

For better or worse, all that matters for now is individual performance, and for Edwards, the first-game butterflies won the day. Let’s hope he pulls it together like he did halfway through his freshman year.