MEDIC wrote:And1Skip wrote:There's no denying that Edey at that size isn't as mobile and quick as someone like Wemby. What he does well is that he understands his current limitations well. Though he has improved his lateral quickness every year, watching the recent games, you also see he's never in foul trouble. I don't believe he has fouled out once this season - he's not a crazy shot blocker and just uses his size and length vertically only. He contests, but only up to a point to avoid the obvious foul. Of course, he could improve a little bit by taking some more chances at the rim, but I think that's by design because he's way more important on offence for this team than defence. Thus, at first when I was watching him on defence I see some easy baskets at the rim by the other team, but realize later that its by design especially earlier in the game, which gives him the ability to more chances later such as blocking Knecht's layup attempt at the end of the game. Still lots of room to improve, but I don't doubt that won't judging by his development over last 4 years in college.
I was saying the exact same thing to a friend yesterday.
1. Edey is playing 95% of the minutes at C during this tourney. In the NBA it would probably be 20-25 minutes a game. Maybe 30 some games. He could expend maximum effort on Defense in the NBA.
2. Their offense doesn't work without him on the floor. Coach can't afford to have him in foul trouble or his 3 point shooters won't have the open looks. Sometimes it looks like his reaction speed ia slow, but as you said, this may be by design. Once NBA teams start working him out, they will be able to figure this out.
3. Right now he is the # 1 option on the team by a mile. They heavily rely on his scoring to win games. A big guy like that would foul out quickly if overly aggressive on defense.
There are some things about the NBA game that would hinder him (#1 is 3 in the key). There are also some things that would help him (more foul calls in his favour & more spacing in the post due to the extended 3)
His game would have to change pretty drastically in the NBA. Adjust to 3 in the key. Be a more aggressive rim protector. Improve his passing. Develop a reliable 3 point shot. It just depends on whether teams believe he can make these adjustments.
It would be interesting if San Antonio took him. Wemby is the elite big man help defender in the league. They might be winning multiple championships with that size.
Raps drop to 7th. SA takes Edey with Raps pick. SA goes on to have a dynasty (Tim Duncan/ David Robinson 2.0). Sounds like a very Raptor thing to happen.
I'd argue that Scottie Barnes as a help defender is just as intriguing an option with Edey being the defensive anchor at the 5. I like Barnes as a guy that switches and helps and has more freedom as opposed to what Darko often did which was assign Barnes to guard the best player while also having a huge offensive burden.
To me, Toronto not investing in one of the best-ever college players from Canada seems like a huge miss. Not only would Toronto be good landing spot on paper for a team missing size and having only a mid-career non-shooting C as its only size, but as an organization I cannot think of a better more supportive place for his development.
He is a high character guy, with confidence and motor about him that shows that he has a high floor as a prospect and being only about 6 years into playing basketball, there is room to grow in many areas.
The Spurs seem like a great franchise, but they want to play a faster pace and likely their biggest need is a guard in the draft, not another big which could mess up their spacing. I think they tried with Collins and it hasn't worked out.
OKC seems like the biggest threat because they have multiple picks and are not afraid to take chances like the Poku and Dieng picks.
Both the Spurs and OKC already have their franchise Cs and it seems weird that they would even want to move Wemby or Chet to be PFs. Edey as a back-up C for a playoff team sounds okay, but after dominating college, is it aiming too low for him? Knicks have multiple picks and Thibs could work with Edey in his slow paced offense.
Ultimately, Toronto gives him a chance at being a star player much like RJ Barrett. This team is a bit starved for hope and taking a big gamble is what is needed.
The path is obvious with Edey. He can play off the bench the first couple years with Kelly who he has already played with on Team Canada. When we are ready to move on from Poeltl, Edey can become the full time C with Barnes.