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Player Review 2018: Edmond Sumner

Age: 22
Years Pro: 1
Status: Played on a two-way contract last season. Is a free agent, but the Pacers have the right to make a qualifying offer.
Key Stats: Played in one game for the Pacers, scoring two points. Played in 14 regular season games for the Fort Wayne Mad Ants of the G League, averaging 7.2 points, and in one playoff game.

There's not a lot to say about Edmond Sumner yet, given the micro sample size of his professional career to date. For now, he's a no-longer-limping ode to potential.

Injured when the Pacers acquired him by trading for the rights to the 52nd overall pick in last year's draft, he spent half of the season rehabbing the torn ACL suffered in January of his previous season at Xavier. He also had a shoulder injury to repair.

He had played in just 58 college games, and his numbers there were by no means eye-popping, but entering the draft was a wise decision. He was going to have to rehab regardless, so he might as well do it under the guidance of an NBA training staff and get paid for it. Playing another half-season or so of college ball wasn't likely to improve his draft stock.

It's no more difficult to see the potential in Sumner than it is to feel the warmth in summer. He's a 6-foot-6 point guard with lottery-level athleticism because of his length and explosiveness, but still a healthy body and jump shot away from a shot at a long NBA career. That's a lot to overcome, but it's a better starting point than obstacles of height, quickness or a work ethic.

Sumner has a few bullet points for the start of a resume. He scored more than 20 points four times his redshirt sophomore season at Xavier, including an outing of 28 points, eight rebounds, and six assists at Georgetown.

He didn't show much in his 14 regular season games with Fort Wayne of the G League, when he averaged 7.2 points on 40 percent shooting, including 23 percent from the 3-point line, but he did in his lone playoff appearance with the Mad Ants: 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting, seven rebounds, and two blocked shots in 21 minutes.

His only appearance with the Pacers came in the final regular season game, against Charlotte, when he got in for the final 2 minutes, 10 seconds of a lopsided loss. He grabbed a rebound and took it the length of the court for a lefthanded finger roll layup with 40.5 seconds left, completing the scoring in a 119-93 loss in an a game that was basically irrelevant to everyone but him.

He was awarded the game ball afterward and it was indeed a notable moment, given the relative rarity of anyone actually playing in an NBA game. The challenge for him now is to make sure that doesn't wind up being the highlight of his NBA career.

Sumner has plenty of tools with which to build an NBA career, but he needs to get in the gym and develop a jump shot. His 3-point percentage at Xavier (.285) and in the G League, where he hit 5-of-20 attempts, are ample evidence of that. If he does that, there will be a lot more to talk about.

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