Zach Edey, 7-4

[CptCrunch]

What scares me about Edey is he is producing less this year than last. To not see progress in college is dissapointing.

Is he producing less? He's producing pretty much the same and it's tough to improve on his elite level of production. How much more than 40+ PTS and 20+ REB per 100 can a player realistically produce? If anything, it's not production but skill development that has not gone as I would have hoped for. Edey is who he is at this point. Last year, this year, next year – we pretty much know what kind of player he is. What we don't know is how it'll translate to the NBA and whether it's really worth running things through him as a starting C.

He certainly isn't producing more than last year. You certainly want to see progression every year from young players from age 19 to 25.

Rate stat sure is good but we are at 23/11 in 30 minutes at age 22 upcoming. I rather draft the last year version of Edey with one year of NBA coaching than see him 'stagnate' one year in college doing diddly doo. I guess Edey can get his college degree in organizational leadership without summer school now.

[Hal14]

What scares me about Edey is he is producing less this year than last. To not see progress in college is dissapointing.

Is he producing less? He's producing pretty much the same and it's tough to improve on his elite level of production. How much more than 40+ PTS and 20+ REB per 100 can a player realistically produce? If anything, it's not production but skill development that has not gone as I would have hoped for. Edey is who he is at this point. Last year, this year, next year – we pretty much know what kind of player he is. What we don't know is how it'll translate to the NBA and whether it's really worth running things through him as a starting C.

He certainly isn't producing more than last year. You certainly want to see progression every year from young players from age 19 to 25.

Rate stat sure is good but we are at 23/11 in 30 minutes at age 22 upcoming. I rather draft the last year version of Edey with one year of NBA coaching than see him 'stagnate' one year in college doing diddly doo. I guess Edey can get his college degree in organizational leadership without summer school now.

A lot of his stats are about the same but this season he's got career highs in FTr (by a huge margin), WS/40 mins, Defensive BPM, Points per 40 mins (despite having lower usage % than last year or the year before) and TS%

Also, his mobility/conditioning are better now. And by playing another year of college ball, it puts him in a weaker draft class, giving him a better chance to go in the 1st round.

Plus he gets more NIL $ and can get his college degree..

[Colbinii]

What scares me about Edey is he is producing less this year than last. To not see progress in college is dissapointing.

Is he producing less? He's producing pretty much the same and it's tough to improve on his elite level of production. How much more than 40+ PTS and 20+ REB per 100 can a player realistically produce? If anything, it's not production but skill development that has not gone as I would have hoped for. Edey is who he is at this point. Last year, this year, next year – we pretty much know what kind of player he is. What we don't know is how it'll translate to the NBA and whether it's really worth running things through him as a starting C.

He certainly isn't producing more than last year. You certainly want to see progression every year from young players from age 19 to 25.

Rate stat sure is good but we are at 23/11 in 30 minutes at age 22 upcoming. I rather draft the last year version of Edey with one year of NBA coaching than see him 'stagnate' one year in college doing diddly doo. I guess Edey can get his college degree in organizational leadership without summer school now.

Production isn't linear. Typically for NBA prospects, they can't improve [statistically] after a certain point in college but it doesn't mean the player isn't improving.

Edey was already in the 99th percentile as a sophomore statistically in College Basketball. Last year and this year [his Junior and Senior Seasons] he is in the 100th percentile statistically.

The real differences this year compared to last year are things specifically meant to help his draft stock.

-Getting back on defense instead of crashing the offensive glass
-Being more active defensively
-Attacking the rim more often

This has resulted in a lower Oreb%, Higher BLK% and significantly higher FTR.

But, there really hasn't been anywhere to go statistically than sideways for Edey, especially after last year.

[tester551]

Is he producing less? He's producing pretty much the same and it's tough to improve on his elite level of production. How much more than 40+ PTS and 20+ REB per 100 can a player realistically produce? If anything, it's not production but skill development that has not gone as I would have hoped for. Edey is who he is at this point. Last year, this year, next year – we pretty much know what kind of player he is. What we don't know is how it'll translate to the NBA and whether it's really worth running things through him as a starting C.

He certainly isn't producing more than last year. You certainly want to see progression every year from young players from age 19 to 25.

Rate stat sure is good but we are at 23/11 in 30 minutes at age 22 upcoming. I rather draft the last year version of Edey with one year of NBA coaching than see him 'stagnate' one year in college doing diddly doo. I guess Edey can get his college degree in organizational leadership without summer school now.

Production isn't linear. Typically for NBA prospects, they can't improve [statistically] after a certain point in college but it doesn't mean the player isn't improving.

Edey was already in the 99th percentile as a sophomore statistically in College Basketball. Last year and this year [his Junior and Senior Seasons] he is in the 100th percentile statistically.

The real differences this year compared to last year are things specifically meant to help his draft stock.

-Getting back on defense instead of crashing the offensive glass
-Being more active defensively
-Attacking the rim more often

This has resulted in a lower Oreb%, Higher BLK% and significantly higher FTR.

But, there really hasn't been anywhere to go statistically than sideways for Edey, especially after last year.

Completely agree.
To give Edey a downgrade because he 'hasn't improved statistically' is missing a LOT of important context.

[CptCrunch]

You can nit-pick aspects of his advanced stats to make the case that Edey has improved. That is fine given players do improve, but I personally expect NBA players to make rapidly yearly improvements during the duration of their effective rookie contract - ages 19-20 + 4 years. (This reminds me the arguments I have with Cade fans who claim that Cade has improved yearly; sure he has gotten better at basketball all around but he is still a god damn negative BPM player playing one side of the ball in year 3. This isn't god damn enough for a #1 draft pick).

You can argue Edey is playing as well as he can play, but I think the argument that one cannot realistically expect him to put up better stats in college is kinda flimsy. How many points can current Giannis put up in college? Is Giannis' ceiling also 20/10 in 30 minutes on 70% TS?

Given Zach is already discounted as prospect (some kind of first rounder, not even lotto lock), the expectation of him not being able to play defense (potentially) or have not improved rapidly between year 2 and 4 in college is already 'priced-in'.

[BigGargamel]

LOL, Zach Edey put up 22/13/2 as a junior. How higher can his stats realistically go? Those are all world NCAA numbers. He's doing the same in about 2 less minutes per game, Purdue is 16-2. He just dropped a 30 point, 20 rebound game in 30 minutes. My dude expecting Edey to average that every game. Come on man.

[ItsDanger]

Read on Twitter

[FarBeyondDriven]

the case against Edey is the same as the case against Sheppard. What can work in college for guys with glaring holes in their physical profile or athleticism is often not enough for the pros. It's not an indictment it just raises the risk associated with drafting them which is why they'll go lower than their college production might suggest.

[tester551]

the case against Edey is the same as the case against Sheppard. What can work in college for guys with glaring holes in their physical profile or athleticism is often not enough for the pros. It's not an indictment it just raises the risk associated with drafting them which is why they'll go lower than their college production might suggest.

I agree they will go lower than what their production might suggest -> but in many cases, that seems to be a bad bet for the NBA teams.

Jaime Jaquez
Brandin Podziemski
Marcus Sasser
Trayce Jackson-Davis

[Chi town]

the case against Edey is the same as the case against Sheppard. What can work in college for guys with glaring holes in their physical profile or athleticism is often not enough for the pros. It's not an indictment it just raises the risk associated with drafting them which is why they'll go lower than their college production might suggest.

I agree they will go lower than what their production might suggest -> but in many cases, that seems to be a bad bet for the NBA teams.

Jaime Jaquez
Brandin Podziemski
Marcus Sasser
Trayce Jackson-Davis

Spot on.

I think Edey goes 18-22 and whoever gets him is going to cash in.

[shangrila]

Read on Twitter

I'm not familiar with Ace so I don't know if he's an NBA prospect but regardless, those hip turns from Edey weren't great.

The footspeed was nice so I'd say this is evidence he can play in schemes outside of drop (like an aggressive hedging one, for example) but if there were any doubt that he might get matchup hunted then this should put them to rest.

Still like him as a backup big though.

[ItsDanger]

the case against Edey is the same as the case against Sheppard. What can work in college for guys with glaring holes in their physical profile or athleticism is often not enough for the pros. It's not an indictment it just raises the risk associated with drafting them which is why they'll go lower than their college production might suggest.

Guards and centers are completely different dynamics though.

[GreatWhiteStiff]

the case against Edey is the same as the case against Sheppard. What can work in college for guys with glaring holes in their physical profile or athleticism is often not enough for the pros. It's not an indictment it just raises the risk associated with drafting them which is why they'll go lower than their college production might suggest.

I agree they will go lower than what their production might suggest -> but in many cases, that seems to be a bad bet for the NBA teams.

Jaime Jaquez
Brandin Podziemski
Marcus Sasser
Trayce Jackson-Davis

Jalen Brunson, obviously from a different class, haha.

[Hal14]

You can nit-pick aspects of his advanced stats to make the case that Edey has improved. That is fine given players do improve, but I personally expect NBA players to make rapidly yearly improvements during the duration of their effective rookie contract - ages 19-20 + 4 years. (This reminds me the arguments I have with Cade fans who claim that Cade has improved yearly; sure he has gotten better at basketball all around but he is still a god damn negative BPM player playing one side of the ball in year 3. This isn't god damn enough for a #1 draft pick).

You can argue Edey is playing as well as he can play, but I think the argument that one cannot realistically expect him to put up better stats in college is kinda flimsy. How many points can current Giannis put up in college? Is Giannis' ceiling also 20/10 in 30 minutes on 70% TS?

Given Zach is already discounted as prospect (some kind of first rounder, not even lotto lock), the expectation of him not being able to play defense (potentially) or have not improved rapidly between year 2 and 4 in college is already 'priced-in'.

Are you kidding me here? Comparing a 22 year old college senior to a 28 year old 2x MVP of the NBA and a 3rd year NBA player who was the number 1 pick?

You gotta be trolling lol.

[azcatz11]

Anyone see the Wisconsin game yesterday? Tyler Wahl really abused him. He is such a stiff on defense.

[CptCrunch]

Anyone see the Wisconsin game yesterday? Tyler Wahl really abused him. He is such a stiff on defense.

This type of foot speed makes one unplayable on defense in the NBA:

[ItsDanger]

Anyone see the Wisconsin game yesterday? Tyler Wahl really abused him. He is such a stiff on defense.

Read on Twitter

That's the coverage they picked to keep him closer to the paint. There's a reason the other guys all struggled.

[FarBeyondDriven]

the case against Edey is the same as the case against Sheppard. What can work in college for guys with glaring holes in their physical profile or athleticism is often not enough for the pros. It's not an indictment it just raises the risk associated with drafting them which is why they'll go lower than their college production might suggest.

Guards and centers are completely different dynamics though.

same premise though. Edey will be forced into drop coverage in PnR at the NBA level making him unplayable. Sheppard will be forced to try and guard quicker NBA athletes with much better size, length and athleticism in a league rife with switches. There's just things that won't translate. I'd draft the athletically and size challenged Sheppard before the Edey because he's actually a very skilled and smart player. Edey succeeds because of his size which won't be as much a factor once he gets in the NBA.

[Big J]

Edey is going to be completely unplayable in the league. Whoever drafts him is an idiot.

[TheSuzerain]

Anyone see the Wisconsin game yesterday? Tyler Wahl really abused him. He is such a stiff on defense.

Nah he was very effective on defense against Wisconsin.

That was one of his worst offensive performances though.