Carsen Edwards, Charles Matthews “standouts” at Sixers pre-draft workouts

The Philadelphia 76ers, in preparation for the 2019 NBA Draft on June 20th, have been performing their due diligence on the class of 2019; this has included hosting or attending a various pre-draft workouts. Wednesday morning, the Sixers held yet another workout, with six players in attendance: Eric Carter (Delaware), Jonathan Kasibabu (Fairfield), CJ Massinburg (Buffalo), Quinndary Weatherspoon (Mississippi State), Carsen Edwards (Purdue) and Charles Matthews (Michigan).

The last two players on that list, Edwards and Matthews, received praise from Sixers VP of Player Personnel Marc Eversley. According to Serene Winters, Eversley described the two as “standouts” at this morning’s workout:

Marc Eversley, Sixers VP of Player Personnel, mentioned both Carsen Edwards (@Cboogie_3) & Charles Matthews (@1CMatthews) as standouts at #Sixers pre-draft workouts this morning. Carsen for his scoring versatility & Charles for his defense. — @SerenaWinters

Carsen Edwards, who played three years of college ball, is a guard who is listed on Purdue’s basketball site at 6’1”, 200 lbs. Edwards, you may recall, had a stellar run in the NCAA tournament this past season, registering two 42-point performances in four games. He could theoretically slot in next to Ben Simmons as an off-ball guard who occasionally initiates offense. Our Dave Early provided the following thoughts in reaction to Winters’ tweet:

I like Edwards as a fit. Has tools to chase Kyrie way out over a high screen-if Embiid were back in drop coverage-and still impact the play. On offense his jumper is good enough to provide real gravity. MIGHT even be able to use some of the screen action Shamet saw last year. — @DaveEarly

In Jonathan Givony’s most recent mock draft for ESPN, he had the Sixers selecting Edwards with the 34th overall pick.

Charles Matthews is a 6’ 6” wing weighing 205 lbs. and hailing from Michigan. Matthews is a terror on the defensive end, but he projects to have questionable value on the offensive side of the ball at the NBA level. Like Edwards, Matthews played three seasons at the college level. The Stepien, one of my go-to resources for draft analysis, places Matthews as a mid-second round talent. Givony, for comparison, had Matthews going undrafted in the aforementioned mock draft.

Our Andrew Patton broke down Matthews’ game here.