Report: Sixers to decline Justin Edwards’ option, plan to sign new three-year deal

The undrafted free agent from last year has got himself another new deal and a raise.

Now the offseason is really cooking with gas.

ESPN’s Shams Charania has reported that the Sixers will be declining the team option for Justin Edwards’ contract next season in order to sign him to a new deal that spans three years.

As the roster dwindled and opportunities grew, Edwards was able to play his way into the rotation hitting 36.3% of his three-pointers while playing solid defense on the perimeter.

Edwards will earn $2 million dollars this year as opposed to the $1.9 million he was originally set to make on the standard contract back in February had the team picked up his option. Not only does he get a bit of a bump in pay, but he also gets some of that money guaranteed.

Charania is reporting that the first two years of this deal will be guaranteed. That was not the case on his original standard deal that had one year left had the Sixers picked it up.

This move seems to be beneficial to all parties involved. Derek Bodner from PHLY was the first to point out that this deal would help the Sixers to retain Edwards should they want to when this deal expires. He’ll have accumulated enough service time to be a restricted free agent, allowing the Sixers to match any offer he’d receive from another team. Being able to get the restricted status on an undrafted free agent is pretty rare.

Throughout his rookie season, Edwards continued to prove that he deserved a chance to play and so far, the Sixers have rewarded him for that.