The Dallas Mavericks shuffled through the back of their roster this summer as they retooled around their core. That meant moving on from promising young forward Kessler Edwards, who just signed with the Denver Nuggets.
The Mavericks had a difficult task this summer, a combination of self-inflicted wounds (they don’t get more self-inflicted or painful than trading away Luka Doncic) and luck, both good (landing the No. 1 pick) and bad (Kyrie Irving tearing his ACL). With a core that includes two aging win-now veterans in Irving and Anthony Davis and two young Duke players in Cooper Flagg and Dereck Lively II, how should the Mavericks move forward?
They largely leaned into the win-now approach, keeping together a cast of veteran role players such as Daniel Gafford and P.J. Washington. Yet space had to be made to add Flagg and veteran guard D’Angelo Russell in addition to some new faces on two-way contracts, and one player who got the axe was young forward Kessler Edwards.
The fourth-year forward played a real role on the Mavericks last season, a steady presence in the midst of injuries and trades. Edwards played in 40 games, including 18 starts, averaging 15.2 minutes per game and shooting a sizzling 40.7 percent from 3-point range and 92.3 percent from the free-throw line.
He was also active defensively, one of three rotation players who averaged more than a steal and block per 36 minutes. He has good size at 6’8″ and fits the delicate alchemy of a 3-and-D forward perfectly. He brings very little in terms of shot creation or playmaking, but as a back-end role player, he brings a lot to the table.
Will Dallas regret losing Edwards?
The Dallas Mavericks’ loss was the Denver Nuggets’ gain. As Edwards enters his fifth season in the NBA he is no longer eligible for a two-way contract, so there was no room on the Mavericks’ roster and they elected not to move off of another player to keep him around.
The Denver Nuggets, however, had a roster spot remaining after their offseason moves and scooped up the available Edwards. There is less need for creation on a team with Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon, and Edwards is a low-risk gamble on finding a rotation player. Jokic tends to take players and turn them into stars in their role, and Edwards could be the next one up.
If he shot 40 percent amidst the chaos of the Mavericks’ season, it’s not unreasonable to think that could tick up in Denver this season. Even if it doesn’t, his skillset should fit perfectly in a small or occasional role. Shooting and defense at 6’8″ is a valuable combination no matter a player’s other limitations.
The Dallas Mavericks need such players, and they likely don’t have them on the roster. Naji Marshall fits the bill, but otherwise they have a collection of players who are either better on-ball (Flagg, P.J. Washington), cannot shoot or cannot defend. That’s not an ideal combination of wings and forwards.
Edwards is not the next Kevin Durant, or even Danny Green. What he is, to Denver now and not to Dallas, is a young player with a valuable skillset available for next-to-nothing. That’s the kind of bet the Mavericks should be making. Instead, he walked away and joined one of their West rivals.
