John Edwards signs with Hawks

[KalEl]

The big man that has not had much playing time, I assume...

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Posted on Wed, Aug. 24, 2005

NBA report

Edwards signs deal with Hawks

Hudson High School graduate and former Kent State standout John Edwards has signed a two-year contract with the Atlanta Hawks.

The deal is worth $2.08 million, according to his agent, Mark Termini.

Edwards, a 7-foot center, averaged 1.2 points and .8 rebounds while averaging 5.6 minutes in 25 games with the Indiana Pacers last season.

He made the Pacers out of training camp on a non-guaranteed contract. He was able to hang on to his roster spot after three players were given lengthy suspensions following a brawl with the Detroit Pistons in November.

Edwards' stock greatly increased following a strong summer-league performance with the Pacers, including one game in which he outplayed No. 1 overall draft pick Andrew Bogut of the Milwaukee Bucks.

[JTFan31]

Yes just saw that.

Who is he and is he any good?

It looks like BK is gambling on players that have shown potential, I guess they scouted him when he played the Bucks and outplayed Bogut.

[Lascar78]

I'm john edwards and I approved this message

[JTFan31]

John Edwards averaged 12.8 mpg, 2.5 rpg and 3.8 ppg

Against Andrew Bogut....Edwards Played 9 minutes, had 9 points, 3 rebounds and 1 block shot

Bogut in 26 minutes had 6 points and 8 rebounds, and no blocks

Well stat wise he didnt outplay Bogut, he just had a good game based on the minutes he played. So is this the center we have been raving about that has had any playing time.

Well he is 7-0, 275 so we know he has the body to bang inside, I hope he is another Pryzbilla, because right about now we all wished we had the Pryz in this roster. He was great in block shots and rebounds and especially outlet passes.

[Lascar78]

In games with 19 minutes or more last year, he's averaging 5.3 pts, 3.8 reb, .16 blocks, .83 assists. And 4 of those were preseason. Yikes.

At least he's 7 foot I suppose but it sounds like for now he is well behind Collier on the depth chart

[Nicholasp27]

not the most exciting news, but at least we have another big body and hopefully he does have potential and can at least grow to be a decent backup...if not, we didn't lose anything

but i was still hoping for someone a lil more exciting

[tmac13]

Sounds like a banger..

"Washington Post - Milwaukee Bucks center Andrew Bogut, the No. 1 pick in this year's NBA draft, was ejected from a summer league game on Monday after tangling with Indiana Pacers center John Edwards.

Edwards, who was also ejected, got caught up with Bogut underneath the basket and inadvertently shoved him to the ground as he headed back up court.

Bogut bounced off the floor and went after Edwards, but the two were separated by teammates before they made any contact."

After deliberating for a few minutes, the officials surprisingly decided to eject both players rather than issue technical fouls, eliciting heavy complaints from both coaching staffs.

"It was a pretty quick hook," Bogut said after the game. "I needed a rest anyway."

Edwards said the initial contact was not intentional.

"I don't think it was merited," he said of the ejection

[Admin]

or defensive minded? My gosh, what is BK thinking going against his "philosophy" with every big man signing he makes?

[Lascar78]

Perhaps some notorious squawkers should email him and try to remind him what his philosophy is, because he doesn't seem to understand it very well

[tmac13]

Heres a little more on him..Sounds like he might be a Pryz type of center..

Career: A one-time walk-on who splits time with Nate Gerwig in KSU’s center rotation ... Is third on the school’s career blocked shots list with 98, nine shy of the all-time mark ... Set Kent State’s single-season blocks record last season ... Is tremdously athletic for his size ... Has been at Kent State longer than anyone on the roster ... Is Kent State’s second 7-footer and first since Jim Zoet in the mid-1970s.

2002-03: Played in all 31 games, making three starts ... Ranked fifth on the team in scoring at 7.2 points, while adding 3.4 rebounds and a team-high 1.3 blocks per game ... Appeared on the single-season field-goal percentage list, ranking third at .633 (93-of-147) ... Also shot .712 (37-of-52) from the free-throw line ... Set KSU’s single-season record with 41 blocks, bettering the previous mark of 37 set by John Whorton is 1997-98 ... Registered six blocks, tying the KSU single-game record, against Buffalo (Feb. 18) ... Had a career-best 20 points, hitting on 9-of-12 FG attempts, with six rebounds against Akron (March 1) ... Was a perfect 7-for-7 from the field, scoring 16 points with six rebounds in the NIT game against College of Charleston ... Also scored in double figures seven other times last season ... Connected on better than 60 percent of field goal attempts in 17 games.

2001-02: Played in 35 of 36 games ... Averaged 3.5 points and 2.1 rebounds per game ... Started the first five games of the season and six overall ... Pulled down six rebounds in the first half of the NCAA Tournament second-round win over Alabama March 16 ... Netted a career-high nine points on 3-of-3 shooting in the MAC Tournament quarterfinal win over Marshall March 7 ... Scored eight points five times during the regular season, most recently against Marshall Feb. 16 ... Had three dunks on his way to eight points, seven rebounds and four blocked shots in 18 minutes at Akron Jan. 16 ... Scored six points in each of the two NCAA Regional games against Pittsburgh March 21 and Indiana March 23, averaging 16 minutes per contest ... Grabbed seven rebounds in only 11 minutes versus Bowling Green Feb. 4 ... Led the team with 24 blocked shots and ranked 13th in the MAC with 0.69 block per game ... Blocked two or more shots in a game six times and registered 10 blocks in a four-game stretch early in the MAC season ... Improved his shooting percentage from 43 percent as a freshman to 61 percent (49-of-81) as a sophomore and also bettered his free-throw shooting from 47 to 65 percent (24-of-37) ... Made 16 of his last 21 field-goal tries (.762) in the final 14 games of the season.

2000-01: Played in 32 of Kent State’s 34 games in a reserve role for a total of 218 minutes ... Averaged 2.0 points and 1.7 rebounds per game ... Ranked eighth in the MAC with 1.03 blocked shots per game ... His 33 blocked shots tied for the third-most in the school’s single-season record book and was just four shy of the record despite limited playing time ... Averaged a block every six-and-a-half minutes ... Had six points, a season-best seven rebounds and three blocks against Mercyhurst (Nov. 20) in his collegiate debut ... Had three or more blocked shots six times, including five in 13 minutes against Nebraska (Dec. 21) in the San Juan Shootout ... The five blocks tied for second in school history and was only one off the single-game record ... Was a perfect 4-of-4 from the field against Eastern Michigan (Jan. 3) on his way to a season-high eight points ... Also was 4-of-4 from the free-throw line versus Centenary (Dec. 2) and Marshall (Jan. 20) ... Had six points and five rebounds against Ohio (Feb. 24) ... Played 11 or more minutes eight times.

1999-00: Was redshirted in his first season at Kent State.

Prior to Kent State: Played at Hudson High School ... Earned one letter each in basketball and cross country ... Was coached in basketball by Wayne Watts.

Personal: Full name is John Edwards ... Born July 31, 1981 (21 years old) ... Parents are Burt and Sue Edwards ... Family now resides in Grand Rapids, Mich. ... Majors in computer information systems.

[mrhonline]

And the Hawks sign "Player #12." Let's just hope the second year is a team option this time:

Year 1: $1.00M

Year 2: $1.08M

Knight is clearly looking for diamond in the rough with these cheap big men.

Salary update:

ALIGN=RIGHT>ALIGN=RIGHT>

Player	2005-2006	2006-2007	2007-2008	2008-2009	2009-2010
Johnson	12.00	12.80	13.60	14.40	15.20
Harrington	6.88
Williams	3.88	4.17	4.47	5.64
Pachulia	3.57	3.86	4.14	4.43
Delk	3.38
Childress	2.68	2.86	3.63
Collier	1.65
Smith, J.	1.37	1.46	2.24
Edwards	1.00	1.08
Smith, D.	0.72	0.74
Ivey	0.72	0.74
Stoudamire	0.72	0.74	0.77
TOTALS	38.57	28.45	28.85	24.47	15.20

The Hawks have $10.93M available in cap space for the final two-three spots.

[Guest Walter]

Just about any other move would have been better IMHO.

W

[JTFan31]

I think he really is looking for size, because most likely Arthur Johnson and Ekezie are better than this guy, but both are 6'9 and 6'10....Edwards is a legitimate 7 footer.

[mrhonline]

Quote:

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Just about any other move would have been better IMHO.

W

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Honestly, I dunno anything about this guy. But he may be going to the NBDL.

[Plainview1981]

Billy seems to have a crush on these type of guys. I

know he doesn't cost alot, but the Hawks would be

better off bringing Googs back who has more experience.

[mrhonline]

Wow. Check out this mug:

[tmac13]

Looks just like him!

[tmac13]

We should have signed John Kerry, he has a good 5 inches on Edwards.

[delanceyj]

I consider myself a pretty well informed NBA fan, and I have NEVER heard of this guy.. sad.. Hopefully there is a method to Billy's madness..

[mrhonline]

I'm holding out hope that the Hawks have one more big move planned that required them to have as much cap space as possible.

(Since "Player #12" was costing them 0.72M anyway, Edwards only subtracts $0.28M from the cap).

Nah. I think it's Lue + Googs and call it a day.