Zach Edey, 7-4

[ItsDanger]

I think the version of him that you will likely see in NBA on offense was at FIBA U19 where he was with a PG that could break his man down off the dribble. So, kind of mix of various styles but much more off ball.

[Big J]

Depends on a team's personnel and scheme.

Zach's combination of size and athleticism makes him unique compared to other rim runners. His main advantages are his rebounding, screening, general physical play, foul drawing, and as King Ken said, his more dynamic offensive game.



That superior offensive ability gives him more options not only within the rim-runner/P&R role but also outside of it.

I'd also contest your point about his defense.

Zach has the potential to be effective as a paint deterrent in drop coverage. Maybe even elite. He has the size, raw athleticism, and at times displayed more activity on defense.

Edey's block rate and personal foul rate were at their highest during his freshmen year where he only played 14.7 minutes per game. They naturally went down as his role changed and his offensive burden increased. This is a subtle indicator he can play more aggressively on defense in a lesser role where he doesn't have to conserve energy and avoid foul trouble.

C'mon with the defense man. We all saw what happened when UCONN kept spamming pick & rolls against him. He's just too limited physically to improve that... and that's okay.

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Half of the "highlights" in that video are of him getting put on an island, conceding wide open 3's, and the guy bricking the shot.

[FrodoBaggins]

C'mon with the defense man. We all saw what happened when UCONN kept spamming pick & rolls against him. He's just too limited physically to improve that... and that's okay.

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Half of the "highlights" in that video are of him getting put on an island, conceding wide open 3's, and the guy bricking the shot.

Just stop.

[FrodoBaggins]

I think the version of him that you will likely see in NBA on offense was at FIBA U19 where he was with a PG that could break his man down off the dribble. So, kind of mix of various styles but much more off ball.

He played really well in that tournament, didn't he?

- 7 games played
- 23.7 minutes per game
- 15.1 ppg, 14.1 rpg, and 2.3 bpg on 56% FG
- One of five players to be voted an All-Star (Zach Edey, Chet Holmgren, Victor Wembanyama, Nikola Jovic, and Jaden Ivey)

Watch on YouTube

;ab_channel=FIBA-TheBasketballChannel



Per 36, that's nearly 3.5 blocks per game. Showing more aggression and activity contesting shots in a lesser role than at Purdue.

[FarBeyondDriven]

I do wonder if there's potential for him to drop substantial weight and get more mobile. He's way too heavy. It worked in college but it will hinder him at the pro level. That could allay some of the concerns about his footwork and defense. But still, he's just not very skilled. In order for him to survive as a starter he's got to have the ability to put the ball on the floor, have the offense run through him away from the basket and more fluidity around the basket with better touch. That's a lot and he's not a spring chicken. Bigs take longer to develop though and there is a slight chance he can do all these things but that's why he still deserves to be drafted, just not in the first round.

[TheDraftGuy]

Hot take: don't think he's notably slow on the court (not that he's really quicker than Gobert like those combine numbers might suggest either).

I think he looks slow because people aren't used to watching humans his size move.

Honestly, this is what I've been thinking too. Yes, he is a bit slow because he's a traditional big man.

But when he puts his arms up...8 feet in the air, it's like watching a player's hang time where they look like they're floating in mid-air.

In that sense, you have to think of his way of approaching the rim as the equivalent of a player automatically approaching in hang time except without jumping so high. Because he doesn't need to jump high and even if he could run at the rim, it isn't necessary to run at it like prime Lebron.

Not that he's Wemby, who is much faster and athletic...but Wemby can also look 'unathletic' when attacking the rim or going up for a dunk too simply because his wingspan is already above the basket.

When evaluating an Edey, there's not really a comparable player. We have to reason him out and his potential impact differently.

I don't know that he'll be a star (though, it's not out of the question) but I do think he can have a career as 'productive' and as long as Enes Kanter did

Then, in the right situation where he can have players cover up potential defensive lapses and where he has guards that can shoot and give him the ball, he may be super productive in a way that multiplies a team's efficiency to unseen levels. It's almost like Draymond. Put Draymond somewhere else and he would never be an All-Star and might not even be still in the league. But on the Warriors? He's a perfect fit

[clyde21]

the problem with Edey defensively is that he blocks/alters shots just by his sheer size advantage, not really because he has high defensive BBIQ...4 blocks per 100 possessions for a dude his size against college teams where most players no taller than 6-9 or 6-10 isn't actually that impressive

compare that to Ryan Dunn who at 6-8 has 5.5 blocks per 100, or Adem Bona who's 6-10 and has 4 bp 100 himself.

id rate Edey higher if I actually thought he has real defensive instincts...not saying he doesn't have any but his defensive production has more to do with his size than actual defensive instincts.

for Gobert, it's not just physical tools but he's a legitimate defender from a mental standpoint, just can't say the same for Edey at this point even if he does get some blocks.

[clyde21]

Yves Missi another example, 6-10 freshmen who blocks just as many shots per 100 as 7-4 senior Edey...for Edey to work in a real scalable way in the NBA he has to be a legitimate defensive presence, he's not gonna have the same size advantage at the next level and he's gonna have to cover more ground on top of it as well

[MemphisX]

Yves Missi another example, 6-10 freshmen who blocks just as many shots per 100 as 7-4 senior Edey...for Edey to work in a real scalable way in the NBA he has to be a legitimate defensive presence, he's not gonna have the same size advantage at the next level and he's gonna have to cover more ground on top of it as well

Ignoring context a lot here. Purdue's entire offense was built around Edey being on the court and avoiding foul trouble while Missi was able to go after every shot.

[bucknut]

He will be able to shoot 3s.....no doubt painter limited that. His form and feel from the foul translates to 3

Edeys biggest weakness is he isn't explosive ...not quick off the ground defensively or explosive power offensively....he is the classic developmental center who started out raw and worked on his craft. not Shaq. ....he is more like yao but more nimble. An enes kanter is honestly a great career...borderline all star type guy

He looked pretty bad second half of that UConn game missing bunnies and getting defended one on one....perhaps fatigue wore him out.

[bucknut]

I mean, is that really struggling? Clingan is one of the top defensive big men in the country, and one of the few centers to even begin to challenge him size wise in the tournament and he still had 22 on him. What really hurt them was his teams inability to score outside of Edey and his vulnerability to the pick and roll. Other big centers aren't gonna be what hurt him, it'll be the athletic guards and small ball 5s.

22 on sub-par efficiency

That was in 32 minutes of play, which is his season average minutes. Overall, he averaged 25 points on 14 FGA, 11 FTA in 32 minutes (TS of .659) to 22 points on 18 FGA, 6 FTA (TS of .533). That's a pretty big drop off in production, and the problematic thing for Edey is he's gonna be facing guys near enough that size on most nights instead of it being just a one-off thing

It would be one thing if the game plan was to swarm Edey like what happened to him last year and force his teammates to help, but that wasn't the plan, they let Edey go at Clingan and Johnson 1 on 1, and it wasn't really working for Edey

Also, the reason why his teammates were unable to score outside of him is cause he wasn't scoring enough to justify more than single coverage. That's the level you need as a post player, you need to force opponents to double you, and Edey wasn't good enough to force that last night, meaning the perimeter defenders got to stay home and it suffocated the whole offense. And if Edey can't do that as a senior in college against Donovan Clingan, he's not gonna be able to do it on a nightly basis in the NBA like guys like Jokic and Embiid

Then you combine that with as you said his struggles in PnR defense, and it's gonna be hard for him to get consistent minutes as a net positive.

He had kind of a bad stretch where he went 0-6..overall he wasn't super efficient but he played well. I wouldn't take SO much out of one game. If you really think he had that bad of a game. Why would you or others be SO much higher on Clingan after a game like this then? Because Edey only scored 22 on 9/18? He also got to the line 10x..and is very good at getting to the line.

Clingan has 11 and 5, only can get to the line for 1 FTA.

I'm not saying Edey will be better than Clingan. Clingan does have age on his side, but to cherry pick things out of a game like this where Edey really had to do everything to try and keep them in the game, against by far the best team in the country, is tough.

There hasn't been a C to come out of college of all the superstars in NBA history that averaged more in his last year of college that I can find other than Wilt and David Robinson. Though Kareem and Shaq averaged more in one of their other years before their final one...but not much.

Of course I guess the argument is that was a different era. They didn't need to be quick defensively or score from outside. There are a lot of Cs in today's game that can't really guard on the perimeter and are not real quick laterally, like JV, Nurkic, Zubac, Adams, Jokic, Sabonis, Kessler, Towns, Lopez. I see a lot of comparisons to Lopez all over the net...how Lopez was though of as an inside scorer but plodder on defense...and he didn't shoot 3s...he had 7 attempts his first 6 years in the NBA and made none. Then he was 1-10 his 7th year and 2-14 his 8th.

I have no idea how Edey will be, but I think he could be anything from a solid starter to decent backup. You never know with guys. Marc Gasol too...no one would have ever suspected he would be a DPOY when he came in.

To put it in perspective Clingan would probably dominate wemby in 1 v 1 postups.....offensively postups he isnt perfect but he is as good as you will see.

Zubac Adams Kessler gobert towns zubac Lopez - these are the guys someone needs to ask why can they succeed defensively and not edey. Gobert couldn't guard jokic tonight from the 3 point line or stop him from going by if he closed out on 3

None of this guys were as defined as edey on offense coming out. Fair to say edey will translate offensively .....but if gobert is out there guarding mobile 5s I don't see why edey can't ?

Is edey literally as immobile as yao on defense where he can't even compare to a gasol or gobert foot speed ?

[8305]

the problem with Edey defensively is that he blocks/alters shots just by his sheer size advantage, not really because he has high defensive BBIQ...4 blocks per 100 possessions for a dude his size against college teams where most players no taller than 6-9 or 6-10 isn't actually that impressive

compare that to Ryan Dunn who at 6-8 has 5.5 blocks per 100, or Adem Bona who's 6-10 and has 4 bp 100 himself.

id rate Edey higher if I actually thought he has real defensive instincts...not saying he doesn't have any but his defensive production has more to do with his size than actual defensive instincts.

for Gobert, it's not just physical tools but he's a legitimate defender from a mental standpoint, just can't say the same for Edey at this point even if he does get some blocks.

What isn’t factored into this assessment. There are a lot of shots that Zach doesn’t challenge. I would argue this is by design. Purdue didn’t want him to pick up fouls so they gave some defense to make sure he was available on offense. He also played huge minutes. More likely he would conserve energy on defense. I’d say a different usage strategy in the NBA could make him a more effective defender.

[OriAr]

the problem with Edey defensively is that he blocks/alters shots just by his sheer size advantage, not really because he has high defensive BBIQ...4 blocks per 100 possessions for a dude his size against college teams where most players no taller than 6-9 or 6-10 isn't actually that impressive

compare that to Ryan Dunn who at 6-8 has 5.5 blocks per 100, or Adem Bona who's 6-10 and has 4 bp 100 himself.

id rate Edey higher if I actually thought he has real defensive instincts...not saying he doesn't have any but his defensive production has more to do with his size than actual defensive instincts.

for Gobert, it's not just physical tools but he's a legitimate defender from a mental standpoint, just can't say the same for Edey at this point even if he does get some blocks.

What isn’t factored into this assessment. There are a lot of shots that Zach doesn’t challenge. I would argue this is by design. Purdue didn’t want him to pick up fouls so they gave some defense to make sure he was available on offense. He also played huge minutes. More likely he would conserve energy on defense. I’d say a different usage strategy in the NBA could make him a more effective defender.

Playing 20 minutes per game would mean that he doesn't need to care as much about foul trouble and that he could spend more energy on defense.

[FrodoBaggins]

the problem with Edey defensively is that he blocks/alters shots just by his sheer size advantage, not really because he has high defensive BBIQ...4 blocks per 100 possessions for a dude his size against college teams where most players no taller than 6-9 or 6-10 isn't actually that impressive

compare that to Ryan Dunn who at 6-8 has 5.5 blocks per 100, or Adem Bona who's 6-10 and has 4 bp 100 himself.

id rate Edey higher if I actually thought he has real defensive instincts...not saying he doesn't have any but his defensive production has more to do with his size than actual defensive instincts.

for Gobert, it's not just physical tools but he's a legitimate defender from a mental standpoint, just can't say the same for Edey at this point even if he does get some blocks.

What isn’t factored into this assessment. There are a lot of shots that Zach doesn’t challenge. I would argue this is by design. Purdue didn’t want him to pick up fouls so they gave some defense to make sure he was available on offense. He also played huge minutes. More likely he would conserve energy on defense. I’d say a different usage strategy in the NBA could make him a more effective defender.

Playing 20 minutes per game would mean that he doesn't need to care as much about foul trouble and that he could spend more energy on defense.

Exactly. His block rate/blocks per 100 possessions and personal fouls per 100 possessions peaked as a freshman playing 14.9 minutes per game. His defensive activity naturally decreased as his offensive load/responsibility increased. He averaged 2.3 bpg in 23.7 mpg during the 2021 FIBA u19 World Cup.

[NO-KG-AI]

He has the advantage that he basically doesn’t need to jump to block and alter shots, which will leave him less prone to foul, conserved energy, and leaves uou in better position to rebound. His block numbers are nice when you factor in how safe it is for him to attempt a block.

[NO-KG-AI]

id rate Edey higher if I actually thought he has real defensive instincts...not saying he doesn't have any but his defensive production has more to do with his size than actual defensive instincts.

for Gobert, it's not just physical tools but he's a legitimate defender from a mental standpoint, just can't say the same for Edey at this point even if he does get some blocks.

This is the burning question IMO. If you think his instincts and IQ on that end can be high level, he’s worth a lot IMO. That’s a hard think to project, even when dudes look like thr next Bill Russell though.

[GoBobs]

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Who's better?

[BigGargamel]

He has the advantage that he basically doesn’t need to jump to block and alter shots, which will leave him less prone to foul, conserved energy, and leaves uou in better position to rebound. His block numbers are nice when you factor in how safe it is for him to attempt a block.

You don't really think this is going to fly against NBA athletes, do you? They'll jump right through him.

[OriAr]

He has the advantage that he basically doesn’t need to jump to block and alter shots, which will leave him less prone to foul, conserved energy, and leaves uou in better position to rebound. His block numbers are nice when you factor in how safe it is for him to attempt a block.

You don't really think this is going to fly against NBA athletes, do you? They'll jump right through him.

He's 7'4 with 7'10 wingspan and 9'8 standing reach, he doesn't really need to jump for blocks

[BigGargamel]

He has the advantage that he basically doesn’t need to jump to block and alter shots, which will leave him less prone to foul, conserved energy, and leaves uou in better position to rebound. His block numbers are nice when you factor in how safe it is for him to attempt a block.

You don't really think this is going to fly against NBA athletes, do you? They'll jump right through him.

He's 7'4 with 7'10 wingspan and 9'8 standing reach, he doesn't really need to jump for blocks

But you still have to be agile and athletic to block shots at the NBA level. Just being big works against college kids, but NBA athletes are smart enough to not just jump straight into a stationary target.