The NBA earth would have been discussing Edey as the fugitive favorites at No. 20 twenty years ago. 1 total get. But the sport has changed drastically. Where does he get in the document?
This past year, Zach Edey was the team's strong person. He controlled the coloring with his 7- base- 4 body. He averaged 25.2 items, 12.2 touchdowns and 2.2 stones in 32 days. And he helped guide Purdue to the regional championship game, where he scored 37 of the player's 60 factors in a reduction to the UConn Huskies, who won backwards- to- back titles. Twenty years ago, the NBA world may be talking about Edey as the fugitive favorites to be the No. 1 total document get. But the sport has changed drastically.
Floor gaps who may handle the ball and knock down pictures along the boundary have been replaced with the old back-to-the-basket facilities. But, the biggest problem some teams may be facing on draft day is: Where does Zach Edey match in this contemporary- day NBA game?
" For any team to review Edey, they would have to change the way they play", an NBA hunter told Yahoo Sports. Not necessarily to enjoy him, but he could serve as a supplementary core off the couch to increase rim protection and dimension. Is that for a search in the first round? In this document? Perhaps".
Edey is convinced that he can split the mold and play in the NBA consistently well. He's a wise person who is pole a player's protection with his 7- foot- 11 wingspan and 9- foot- 7 standing reach.
" Every team needs someone to keep down the paint", Edey told reporters at the combine. " You need someone to get rebounds, somebody to stop shots and finish lobs. Not everyone has to do with me holding the ball in my arms and pushing it up.
Edey made simply one 3- marker his whole college career, and that's certainly an area of development. But at the combine he really shot at a higher rate in the spot- up drills and showed NBA scouts he can expand his game.
" Obviously at Purdue there were a lot of post- ups, but if you really watch the game, there's plenty of ball screens, seals, hit the indirect and go back in, and that's what they run in the NBA and that's what I can bring to any team", Edey said.
Defensively, though, is where he'll be targeted. He wo n't be able to camp out in the paint and defend the rim the way he did in college with the defensive 3- second rule. Opponents will be looking to extend him in ball screens and switches all game. This is his most obvious flaw, having only a few feet on the ground. It will only be a matter of time before we can see if his style can play defensively with the NBA's speed and movement. Along with having a limited amount of recovery time, he also worries about how a demanding 82-game schedule will wear on his 300-pound frame.
Edey wo n't likely be selected as a player to build around, but rather as one who can play 15 to 20 minutes of basketball each night. He understands he's never going to be like the 7- foot playmakers who have come out of the draft in recent years, such as Chet Holmgren, Victor Wembanyama, and Alex Sarr this year.
" I'm built to be in the paint, to carve out space, to protect my area. And that's what I'm gonna keep doing. I think there's a lot of people in the NBA that do stuff like that. ]Jonas ] Valančiūnas ,]Ivica ] Zubac, Steven Adams, guys who had a lot of success in the NBA being those paint presences. I'm going to stick to who I am, and I kind of know who I am".
Edey received a green room invite for the NBA Draft on June 26- 27 in New York but has elected to watch with friends and family at Purdue. His draft range is likely to range from 14 to 25 with multiple sources telling Yahoo Sports that pick No. 1 would likely mean he'll likely be off the board. 20.
With a chance of landing in Toronto, where he was raised and has family, Edey has worked out for the Trail Blazers, Lakers, Raptors, and a few other teams. This summer, as Canada prepares to compete in the Olympics in Paris, he'll also play for the men's national team.
This is the perfect draft for Edey with all the uncertainty and no real star power projected at the top. Edey is the guy for teams looking for a guaranteed hit with the knowledge of their player needs. Dominant frontcourt players like Edey have n't panned out in the NBA in recent years, but he might be the outlier to break through and carve out a long NBA career.
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