Zach Edey, 7-4

[TheSuzerain]

15/10 over 24 minutes seems reasonable

23 and 15 per 36. Could actually see more points per 36.

Taylor Jenkins is an elite coach. I trust him to get a lot out of Edey. Zach couldn't have asked for a better team to play for when you look at their roster composition. He just has to be elite finishing around the rim. If he is, he will have a long productive career. All the other stuff about defense, defending in space is irrelevant. Just be great at your one thing and keep spamming it. I would hate to have to defend Ja and Bane off high ball screens he sets. I even wonder about big to big passing between him and Jaren. Should be fun to watch.

Will be interesting to see how usage shakes out (assuming health).

Feel like Jaren and Smart ideally reduce their usage quite a bit (obviously was inflated anyway due to absence of Ja).

[3toheadmelo]

im rooting for his success. would be awesome to see him be that throwback dominant center in todays league

[manlisten]

I don't know who would be more insufferable

The Edey fanboys if he's good

Or Big J if he's bad

Actually, the worst outcome is he's just okay, like a bench player or fringe starter, cause then both would be claiming victory at once. So I just hope he goes one way or the other.

Come on man, we know that we live in a world where both camps will fight to the death on it. Edey is clearly going to prove both sides right. He’s going to have some monster statlines, he just is, there will be nights where a team’s backup center is out and he just feasts, like 15 and 10 in 20 minutes.

If I’m reading Jenkins correctly I’m pretty sure they’ll juice his rotations so that his per minute efficiency is really good. Lot of bench lineups or ones with Bane/Kennard doing PnR to give him extra space.

But the critics will also probably see him get exposed badly against certain teams and he won’t play that much. It’ll be the perfect storm of argument fodder.

Can definitely see this happening . There's gonna be nights where he gets completely abused and others where he dominates someone like Jaxson Hayes for a 30 point double double.

[Big J]

I'm rooting for him also because that would mean the rules and all of the strategies that made post men extinct have been repealed.

[ItsDanger]

Read on Twitter

2nd best ROTY odds even over the #1 pick.

[CptCrunch]

Reminder that sportbooks are in the business of expectation maximization. When a large amount of irrational bets are placed. Books have to shorten the odds to disinccentive long tail losses.

There is a clear disconnect between casual NBA fans consuming Twitter/ESPN, silghtly less casual fans on RealGM, professional betters, and NBA front office.

[QingJames]

Reminder that sportbooks are in the business of expectation maximization. When a large amount of irrational bets are placed. Books have to shorten the odds to disinccentive long tail losses.

There is a clear disconnect between casual NBA fans consuming Twitter/ESPN, silghtly less casual fans on RealGM, professional betters, and NBA front office.

One of the better drafting NBA front offices over the past half decade thought he was worthy of a top 10 pick. Doesn’t seem like too much of a disconnect to me.

[azcatz11]

Reminder that sportbooks are in the business of expectation maximization. When a large amount of irrational bets are placed. Books have to shorten the odds to disinccentive long tail losses.

There is a clear disconnect between casual NBA fans consuming Twitter/ESPN, silghtly less casual fans on RealGM, professional betters, and NBA front office.

One of the better drafting NBA front offices over the past half decade thought he was worthy of a top 10 pick. Doesn’t seem like too much of a disconnect to me.

Yeah…that’s what makes me think this is a good pick. Memphis has one of the best FOs in the league and Jenkins is an incredible coach. They clearly have a vision for him. I hate Edey but this is a great spot

[ItsDanger]

Reminder that sportbooks are in the business of expectation maximization. When a large amount of irrational bets are placed. Books have to shorten the odds to disinccentive long tail losses.

There is a clear disconnect between casual NBA fans consuming Twitter/ESPN, silghtly less casual fans on RealGM, professional betters, and NBA front office.

For scorers, they need high usage and starting roles to put up decent stats for ROTY consideration. Look at that list, I don't see many that could start 60 games let alone get enough shots up. Edey may start for Memphis and get 25 minutes right away.

[Big J]

He's not playing in the olympics because he's afraid he'll get exposed.

[ItsDanger]

[azcatz11]

Honestly it looked like he’s been working incredibly hard and his stamina and body really surprised me. He didn’t look lumbering at all. He’s going to be a major problem

[MemphisX]

Watch on YouTube

[FrodoBaggins]

Look at how much space his screen creates for Scottie Pippen Jr.

Read on Twitter

I think there's a good chance Zach can match Steven Adams' screening from day one. The game footage looks good so far. Adams was the best screener in the league IMO. He was #1 in the league for per 36 screen assists per game in '22 and '23. Here are his numbers from his Memphis' seasons:

2021-22: 5.5 screen assists (4th in NBA); 12.0 screen assist points (4th in NBA); 26.3 minutes per game
2022-23: 5.6 screen assists (1st in NBA); 12.6 screen assist points (2nd in NBA); 27.0 minutes per game

Adjusted numbers (minimum 621 minutes):

2021-22: 7.5 screen assists per 36 minutes (1st in NBA); 16.4 screen assist points per 36 minutes (2nd in NBA)
2022-23: 7.5 screen assists per 36 minutes (1st in NBA); 16.8 screen assist points per 36 minutes (1st in NBA)

[CP War Hawks]

Man he looks good as you can get for a 7-4 300 pound player. Kudos to him for working that hard and Mem rewarding him with a top ten pick.

Hoping for his health in the long term. The guy is going to make his down the line money at the line which I suspect he'll shoot among the best among centers.

[baldur]

The guy is obviously hard working and got a great work ethic. It should pay off.

[baldur]

Reminder that sportbooks are in the business of expectation maximization. When a large amount of irrational bets are placed. Books have to shorten the odds to disinccentive long tail losses.

There is a clear disconnect between casual NBA fans consuming Twitter/ESPN, silghtly less casual fans on RealGM, professional betters, and NBA front office.

One of the better drafting NBA front offices over the past half decade thought he was worthy of a top 10 pick. Doesn’t seem like too much of a disconnect to me.

Yeah…that’s what makes me think this is a good pick. Memphis has one of the best FOs in the league and Jenkins is an incredible coach. They clearly have a vision for him. I hate Edey but this is a great spot

Why are you hating him?

[OriAr]

Should have gone at #1 to Atlanta.
Ja will feast with him.

[Chuck Everett]

Watch on YouTube

He got that fire in him. He wants to prove the naysayers wrong. Dude is gonna be a problem. Maybe Ja was right about being good in the West.

[The Moose]

Read on Twitter

2nd best ROTY odds even over the #1 pick.

He should be in the top 2 with Sarr. I mean there is probably only 4 rookies from the lottery with a strong chance at starting on opening night.

Risacher: catch and shoot wing next to a heavy usage guard on a team with multiple wings already in place
Sarr: Will get a lot of minutes and usage on a terrible team
Castle: Possible starter, with decent usage, not the biggest box score producer
Edey: Likely starting center on a good team, pretty much a given to be productive in his minutes


Most of the other top picks are either raw, not very good, injured, have difficult path to minutes or a combination of these.

Reed: Coming off the bench this season, difficult path to minutes/usage this season
Holland: Likely bench player this season
Salaun: Lets be serious
Clingan: Probably coming off the bench behind Ayton
Dillingham: Coming off the bench probably
Williams: Lets be serious
Buzelis: Again, lets be serious
Topic: Injured
Carter: Injured, bench player
Carrington: Raw, might get decent minutes though, probably a darkhorse here

Only 1 non lottery pick has won ROTY in the last 30+ years, so yeah extremely unlikely to come from outside this group.

I assume most of the sharp money came in on Edey, would be shocked if he doesn't finish in the top 3 for the award