March 23, 2025
Brett Davis/Imagn Images
How will this unusual season impact Justin Edwards' development moving forward?
The Sixers' six-game road trip began with a win in Dallas last Sunday, but has taken a turn for the worse (or better, depending on one's perspective) since, with the losses piling up just as quickly as the team's injuries. After losses in Houston, Oklahoma City and San Antonio, the Sixers headed to a different region for the final two legs of this marathon of a swing, which happened to come on consecutive nights.
That back-to-back began on Sunday evening in Atlanta, as the Sixers were outnumbered and outplayed in a 132-119 loss to the Hawks. The play of 21-year-old rookie wing (and hometown kid) Justin Edwards was just about the only bright spot for the Sixers in this one.
Some thoughts on how this unusual season could enhance Edwards' development, plus more takeaways from Sunday's action:
One of the focuses of this week's Sunday stats was Edwards rapidly progressing on the offensive end, where he has grown far more comfortable seeking out his own shots off the dribble, in addition to his quick trigger on spot-up three-point tries. Edwards entered Sunday's game averaging 20.7 points per game over his last three appearances, doing it on strong efficiency:
Justin Edwards in his last three games:
— Adam Aaronson's clips (@SixersAdamClips) March 23, 2025
62 points
10 three-pointers
66.6 TS%
A compilation of 10 Edwards baskets during this span, from quick-trigger spot-up shooting to self-created scoring and more: pic.twitter.com/h2O1Mw2vkJ
Edwards continued his strong scoring stretch in Atlanta. The rookie scored 22 points, marking the first time in his NBA career he has surpassed 20 points in back-to-back games. Edwards thrived as he struck an appropriate balance between three-point shooting, off-ball cutting and on-ball slashing.
Jus to the hoop. pic.twitter.com/fgihzDzUv0
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) March 23, 2025
Perhaps the biggest beneficiary of the Sixers not needing to focus on winning games has been Quentin Grimes, who has blossomed into an electric three-level on-ball scorer. But a close second is Edwards, who after demonstrating he has all of the necessary feel and skill to be a helpful supporting cast member in a background role is now receiving plenty of runway to play more freely offensively.
The Sixers do not need Edwards -- famously once a five-star recruit before a disappointing season at Kentucky, which caused him to go undrafted -- to begin playing the way top recruits often play in high school, taking every big shot and carrying the bulk of the workload on his shoulders. But that pedigree is valuable, as Edwards is showing comfort hunting his own looks, especially as the shot clock dwindles. Edwards' bread and butter at this juncture is a spin move that gets him back to his left hand, but he is not necessarily uncomfortable going to his right.
More than anything, the last two months of Edwards' rookie season will end up allowing him to collect significant data on what works and what does not work for him at this level ahead of a summer in which he should be able to reasonably expect consistent minutes as an NBA sophomore.
After being inactive for two games, not only was Jeff Dowtin Jr. activated for Sunday's game, but he jumped into the starting lineup, replacing Jared Butler. Dowtin started alongside Grimes, Justin Edwards, Chuma Okeke and Guerschon Yabusele, who made up the Sixers' 47th unique starting lineup of the season in the team's 71st game.
Alex Reese was active after being held out of Friday's game in San Antonio, while Jalen Hood-Schifino was inactive in Atlanta, his first time being removed from the action since he made his Sixers debut on March 14.
Expect to see plenty more of these shuffles and healthy scratches among the Sixers' three players on two-way contracts between now and the end of the regular season on April 13. Two-way deals only afford a player a certain number of days they can spend active for NBA games. Players who ink their deals before the season can suit up for 50 games, but players who sign during the season have a prorated number of NBA days.
Dowtin, who inked his two-way deal over the summer, has now dressed 46 times, which means he can only be available four more times unless the Sixers convert him to a standard contract. While the exact number of days available for Reese and Hood-Schifino are not publicly available as of this writing, neither one has anything close to 50, as they each signed with only a handful of weeks remaining in the season.
For all three players, each opportunity to play during the remainder of this season will be precious, because they will also be fleeting. This is especially true for Dowtin, who will no longer be eligible to sign two-way contracts after this season and would need to earn a standard contract to suit up for NBA teams. Dowtin had a solid all-around game on Sunday, scoring 15 points on 7-for-11 shooting while also adding four rebounds, three assists, three steals and two blocks.
Some more notes and takeaways from this one:
• It did not feel as if Quentin Grimes had his best on Sunday, but still ended up extending his streak of 25-plus-point games to eight, this time powered by an ability to get to the free throw line and cash in. Grimes shot 9-for-11 from the free throw line and finished the game with 26 points, but his streak of games with multiple steals ended at seven, as he only notched one takeaway against the Hawks.
• Reese is a heady player, and he showed it off a few different times during an extended run on Sunday. Two examples from the first half: a nifty assist to Grimes on a back-door cut for a basket in which the Alabama product fit the ball into a tight window, and a steal when Reese read Georges Niang perfectly in a 2-on-1 situation, baiting Niang into throwing a lob which he was able to easily get his hands on to force a turnover. He also threw down this left-handed and-one poster dunk in the fourth quarter:
ALEX REESE AND ONE DUNK. pic.twitter.com/I23D3ytICM
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) March 24, 2025
Reese signed a two-year two-way contract, which does not guarantee him anything but does signal genuine interest on the part of the organization. He has the inside track on a spot with next year's Sixers.
• After playing arguably the best game of his NBA career on Friday night in San Antonio, Ricky Council IV fouled out in 19 minutes against the Hawks -- and picked up a technical foul on his way out. Council did not have a bad offensive game, scoring 14 points on 11 shots, but being disqualified is never fun.
• Okeke really battles on the glass, and his rebounding -- particularly on the offensive end -- has been his strongest quality during his second 10-day stint with the team. It may be difficult for the Sixers to keep Okeke around when his 10-day contract expires in the coming days, but he has made a nice impression.
• Speaking of 10-day contracts, Oshae Brissett's deal with the Sixers is now set to expire, and Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer reported during the fourth quarter that Brissett had been ruled out for the remainder of the game due to knee swelling. If the NBA rules that the Sixers still qualify for a hardship exception, they could sign Brissett to one more 10-day deal. If not, they would need to waive one of their 15 standard contract players to make room for him or Okeke.
Up next: The Sixers will finally complete their six-game road trip on Monday night, facing the New Orleans Pelicans before returning home.
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