By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
FC Bayern Munich has signed Carsen Edwards on a one-year deal, the club confirmed on Friday. Edwards becomes the third signing of the Pablo Laso era at Bayern, after Leandro Bolmaro and Sylvain Francisco.
After a turbulent debut season in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague with Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul, in which he averaged 8.0 points, 1.3 rebounds, 1.1 assists and a 4.9 PIR in 15:21 on the floor, Edwards now heads to Germany with the hope of establishing himself as one of the competition’s best guards.
Edwards made a total of 34 appearances in his first EuroLeague campaign, starting just twice, and he showed plenty of signs of the player that he could be.
During the regular season, the American hit double figures for points in 12 out of 29 appearances. His season high came in Round 21 when he scored 22 points against LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne, while his best stretch of performances came between Rounds 12 and 14 as he netted at least 10 points in three straight games. Edwards twice chained back-to-back games with a double-digit number of points in Rounds 8 and 9 and Rounds 23 and 24, too.
In the postseason, Edwards erupted for 16 points in Game 2 of Fenerbahce’s playoff matchup against Olympiacos Piraeus, which ensured that the series returned to Istanbul with the score at 1-1. In the decisive do-or-die Game 5, he scored 10 points, but it came in a losing effort as Fenerbahce failed to make it to the EuroLeague Final Four in Kaunas.
“Carsen is a scoring machine, and when he came to Europe, everyone thought, ‘Wow, what a fantastic transfer’,” recalls head coach Pablo Laso about Edwards’ move to Fenerbahce a year ago. “It will be his second season in Europe, and we are getting a versatile player who can fill various positions. He is creative and very aggressive in offense, strong and quick in defense. We have high expectations for him because he is someone who can hold his ground against anyone.”
At Bayern, Edwards is expected be given an opportunity to display his talents on a more consistent basis. Following a season that saw the ex-Boston Celtics and Detroit Pistons guard come in and out of Fenerbahce’s rotation, with head coach Dimitris Itoudis often preferring the likes of Nick Calathes, Scottie Wilbekin and Tyler Dorsey, Coach Laso is expected to provide the 25-year-old with more minutes and a more defined role on the court.