How Justin Edwards, Tre Mitchell can go from undrafted to quality contributors

Unlike Reed Sheppard, Rob Dillingham, and Antonio Reeves, two other former Wildcats — Justin Edwards and Tre Mitchell — weren’t selected in the 2024 NBA Draft. Instead, they were picked up after the fact.

Edwards signed a two-way deal with his hometown Philadelphia 76ers, according to a report by Shams Charania. Mitchell, on the other hand, agreed to a Summer League deal with the Oklahoma City Thunder. While going undrafted isn’t ideal for either, it also isn’t the end of the world for them.

Both will have the chance to do what they have done their whole lives — prove the doubters wrong. Here’s how they can do just that.

Justin Edwards needs to capitalize on his potential

For Edwards, it starts with building and maintaining confidence. At Kentucky, we saw him do that in the later part of the season, but if he isn’t going to believe in himself, then no one will. That’s step one. Then, Edwards will need to capitalize on just how much potential he has.

The narrative surrounding Edwards post-draft is that he went from being a projected No. 1 pick to going undrafted. He just has to prove to the 76ers that he isn’t a wash — that he really and truly can be the star player that many expected him to be coming out of high school.

When Edwards gets some run for the 76ers, he has to make his minutes count. Most likely, he would be coming off the bench behind Tobias Harris, but as Harris continues to get older, depth at that wing position becomes much more valuable. That’s where Edwards has to assert himself. He has the talent to do it, he just has to figure it out.

He’ll also have the chance to team up alongside another former ‘Cat in All-Star Tyrese Maxey. However, the expectation early on is that Edwards will begin his career in the G League.

Tre Mitchell has to flourish as a stretch-four

Then, with Mitchell, it’s all about carving himself out a role on one of the best young teams in the Western Conference. In the Summer League, Mitchell will have to do what he did best at Kentucky, which means he’ll need to be able to succeed in a modern NBA offense, and luckily for him, he already has that skill set.

At Kentucky last season, Mitchell shot 30.2% from deep, which is serviceable for a big man, but he’ll need to improve on that if he wants to make it past the Summer League. In the year prior at West Virginia, Mitchell shot 36.4% from three-point range and 37.5% in his sophomore season at UMass.

Those are the types of numbers Mitchell will need to put up to have a long NBA career. He needs to hover around that 35% mark or above. According to StatMuse, the average three-point percentage for a power forward in the NBA is 35.7%. That’s about where Mitchell needs to be to compete for a roster spot.

If he does end up cracking the roster, he’ll team up with MVP runner-up Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and All-Rookie performer Cason Wallace.