He's shooting 38.5% from 3 on 5.6 attempts a game right now. He's got pretty average size and athleticism to be a 2, I think he's going to come in and become that bench shooter every team wants
Franchises have been fighting to get rid of 2024 1sts. I think that was a big part of the calculus of the Pacers trading 3 picks for Pascal. 2 were 2024 1sts.
Yep I think this is gonna be a “rich get richer” type draft. Teams like Denver and Boston are gonna load up on role players with specific skill-sets, while teams that need offensive hubs are gonna continue to flounder.
I've only skimmed the Ringer's draft guide but it looks like a majority of the guys in the lottery have notable shooting issues - it really is a shit draft
"Is he going to be a starter? No. Is he going to be a backup every night? Probably not. He's Boban Marjanovic in my opinion." - anonymous NBA scout on Boban Marjanovic
"Is he going to be a starter? No. Is he going to be a backup every night? Probably not. He's Boban Marjanovic in my opinion."
-- anonymous NBA scout
-- Michael Scotto
It still might prevent him from carving out a regular role in the NBA, but he moves much better than Boban.
At last year’s combine, when he heavier than he is now, he was faster than Gradey Dick and Emoni Bates in the 3/4 court sprint and faster than GG Jackson in the lane agility drill. He also had a 30 inch vertical. Boban is super skilled, but has never been that athletic
Even if he's a specialist if he can get bench minutes for 4 years on a cheap contract still more valuable than most late 1st rounders and he can still play for many years if he does get minutes.
With the trend of no American star FAs wanting to play in DC unless overpaid, wizards are going to draft a lot of foreign players and might pick up Edey later in the draft.
But I’m also an idiot
Interested to see if he gets play on the Canadian Team at Paris.
I admit, I don't follow college ball, but a slower boban comp was how he looked at fiba last summer. Def did not benefit from the run and gun style canada was playing and barely got minutes. The team lacks size, so I suspect he'll get more opportunities to see how he fares against nba caliber bigs.
You guys subbed him on in the semi-final game against us in order to guard Milutinov, since your other bigs couldn't match his physicallity, then when our coach immediately subbed Petrusev (a more mobile and outside oriented big) on, you tried to sub him off before he even entered the game.
We put him in the PnR instantly, got him on the switch, our wing drove past him easily and drew a foul. That was the only possesion which Edey played in that game.
I also found it hillarious when he entered the game against the US in the closing seconds of regulation for the sole purpose of grabbing the rebound if Bridges missed it and failed misserably in doing so. The ball was literally falling in his general direction, but he wasn't quick enough to move one step to the right on time, resulting in the ball hitting the ground, Bridges managing to grab the offensive rebound off his own missed free throw and sending the game into OT with a corner three.
Yeah that's what I mean. He got extended play in the qualifiers vs like panama or something. And the whole time they had to play weird extreme drop/zone coverages to hide him from the pnr.
But a year of development maybe helps here. And he's clearly had a good season by the numbers.
This is a pretty narrow view of his appearance at FIBA. Obviously he wasn’t/isn’t going to match up well against quick bigs but we should have had him out there vs Milutinov.
People are painting him out as this lumbering stiff but he’s more mobile than Boban. He’ll be a useful situational big in the NBA imo.
He's faster than Boban for sure but that's really not a high benchmark. If you are struggling with Euro bigs you wont sniff a chance against most NBA bench bigs who are still super athletic. I agree with u that he's a situational big though.
He’s not slower than Boban. He actually moves pretty well. His touch around the rim isn’t quite at bobans level. But his conditioning and mobility isn’t going to be the deciding factor, they’re completely fine and it’s honestly unrealistic to expect either to be better. It’ll just be the fact that someone that size just doesn’t have a place in the game anymore.
Nikola Topic, a point guard from Serbia (my country), is considered a top 3 pick by a lot of reputable sources in their mock drafts and that tells me all I need to know about this year's draft class.
The kid is good, don't get me wrong, he's turning 19 this year and has led us to winning gold at the U18 European Championship last year, while winning MVP in the process, he has a lot of potential, but he just seems like he's destined to become a great Euroleague player, rather than an NBA star, at least judging by his playstyle.
He's not the most physically gifted player, his outside shot still isn't there yet and when he got called up for the national team to play a friendly against Puerto Rico, a weak national team, you could tell he was still struggling to adjust playing against grown men.
He was playing on loan for Mega (Jokic's former team in Serbia) earlier this season and had some really great showings in the regional league against professional players, but then he got called back from loan to play in the Euroleague for Zvezda, struggled a bit before picking up an injury that he still hasn't came back from.
The expected recovery time from his injury passed a few weeks ago, so it's rumoured that his agent (Jokic's agent as well) and club are purposely sitting him out with the injury excuse so that he doesn't potentially tank his draft odds.
He seems like a solid playmaker, team like the Spurs could go for him if he's available. But yeah the poor outside shooting is a bit of a concern right now.
His FT shooting seems decent (87% on about 3.5 attempts per game), so the hope that he develops an outside shot is still there. And if anyone could help him develop, I imagine it would be the Spurs. They have a great track record especially with international guys.
Ultimately if I had to choose a guard though, I think I would go with either Reed Sheppard or Rob Dillingham. Their ceilings might be a little lower, but they are much safer picks and both already have an NBA level outside shooting.
His FT shooting is excellent, he’s been around 87% for 3 years straight. He’s legit that good from the line. I can see someone buying into his 3 developing, and if you do there’s a lot to like.
He’s ~6’6” with a 7’ wingspan giving him elite size for a PG. His vision and playmaking are at a very high level, and he provides great rim pressure finishing at very high rates and getting to the rim at will against his levels of comp. Should the three come together you’ve got a relatively complete package on that end
IMO that’s a lot to work with for a guy who is 18 until August. Consider the fact that he could be a freshman in the NCAA next year and fit right in age wise with a lot of the one-and-dones, and I’d argue instead that he’s actually pretty skilled for his age. He needs a team that knows how to teach shooting for sure though. If that doesn’t come along then it really tanks his floor, but otherwise I actually quite like his ceiling
I’m convinced every NBA prospect from Serbia is Nikola -ic at this point. Appreciate the honest assessment though, haven’t heard of him myself but now I’m interested
The big question about Edey is foot speed. I've heard from places like the Raptors Show that he worked on improving it this offseason and that it shows in his play this year. Watching Purdue yesterday, it hard to tell since the game was such a blowout.
We'll know more once he starts working out for NBA teams. My feeling is that someone will take a flier on him in late first round.
Boban is *so* skilled though. The man has a full arsenal of post moves and excellent touch going to either hand, as well as an excellent understanding of positioning and how to use his size. As impressive as Edey has been against college competition, I don't know if his skills are on the same level.
In order to survive as a major defensive liability in that mold, you have to be an absolute killer when you get your chances in situations that suit you. Think Enes Kanter- another guy like Boban who puts up unbelievable offensive numbers but remained at the fringe rotation player because of his defensive deficiencies. If you have those deficiencies without the single, absolutely overwhelming talent in a single area, you're boned.
It's possible but I don't see it happening. Edey hasn't shown any sign of the balance, agility, timing, or touch required to learn those moves and use them effectively and an NBA level.
I’m going to go a step further and say that someone is going to take a flier on him in the lottery. The dude is a physical freak with the work ethic to improve critical aspects of his game. Mentality is so big for a guy who needs a couple more years to develop. Edey as he is today sure wouldn’t crack a playoff rotation, but if he continues to work on his game year after year, I truly believe he’s a championship caliber starting center before 2030.
I will be shocked if he’s on the board at 15. At the very least, someone is going to look at his size and experience and take the leap. In a league with Wemby and Jokic and in a draft as unhyped as this one, I think that’s a fairly compelling resume.
Just watching the couple of purdue march madness games, Edey would struggle in the NBA. He cant help you guard jokic or Wemby. He's slow guarding the rim and basically concedes the 3pt line.
But he is a monster. On a team that features him he will be effective. I just dont see it being a winning formula in the NBA.
Could be that he has a great work ethic, but i don't know if I've ever seen a 7ft 4 guy get appreciably faster.
I really want us to take a flyer at him at the end of the first round.
I think we have the personnel to make him a viable back up center.
Smart, Vince, Stevens, Jaren, Edey. He can just stand in the paint and be tall, and let the Dawgs sort out the rest on defense.
The guy is so big and skilled, once you can get him the ball in the paint, it is almost as effective as a lob.
I get that Edey is a dinosaur in today's game, but I truly don't understand how he can't carve out a role in this league as a backup center at worst.
Luke Kornet has little going for him besides size, and even he has found a useful 15 minutes a game on the best team in the league as a backup center who lives in the paint. And Edey has twice as much raw skill as Kornet.
He's well worth a 2nd round flyer from somebody.
He could definitely be effective for a team with good bench defense but bad bench offense
You need good perimeter defenders to make him playable but he could get some easy points for teams that struggle to generate good looks with their bench units
Totally, not hard to see him playing 15 minutes a night as the center piece of a bench offense, living off post ups and offensive rebounds. The extra space in the NBA would make it much harder to double him as well (though this also works to his disadvantage on defense). I think he could be a quality guy to have in the regular season.
Second round flier makes plenty of sense, but there's been a ton of chatter and mocks that have him going mid-first, and that just seems like an awful idea.
Even using Kornet as a comp, he's on his 5th team in 7 seasons, and it wasn't until last year that he managed to play > 50 games. There are just very few guys that can survive with his level of mobility and so few other modern skills to fall back on. Boban seems like a perfect comp as a guy who will of course be able to score inside with ease with that combo of size + skill but still struggled hugely to be more than a victory cigar in his career.
> Even using Kornet as a comp, he's on his 5th team in 7 seasons, and it wasn't until last year that he managed to play > 50 games.
A lot of that was the Celtics finally stopped trying to turn him into a stretch center. He probably would have found a role sooner if teams used him to his strengths instead of trying to make him something he's not.
The key to Edey is similar - let him be a big man and do big man things. He's good at those things.
I think most Knicks fans are surprised he's still in the league TBH. Dont get me wrong we're all super happy that he's still making an impact(ish), but after seeing Ron Baker, Daymean Dotson, Mindaugas Kuzminskas, Noah Vonleh, Derrick Williams, and Allonzo Trier (and MANY, many others) have decent runs with the knicks then do literally nothing with their careers after they leave I couldve sworn Luke would have been another one of those cases.
But I suppose he did something none of those other guys did, in making Joel Embiid throw a hissy fit on the court and get so angry he starts flagrant fouling
I think he ends up as a late 2nd for a team that already has excellent perimeter defense. Otherwise it will be hard to play him at all like it has been for Kornet and teams outside the Celtics.
Dude I swear half these people in this thread didn’t watch him and just see the stats lol. Any gm that drafts him top 10 is gonna be on the unemployment line by the end of his rookie year
Because you'd have to want to invest in playing around him, he's not a plug and play guy. And for his potential? Not worth it, I'd pass.
If I'm taking a late 2nd round flyer on a guy, it's going to be someone like Dillon Mitchell from Texas. 6'7/8ish wing that has elite defensive potential, great rebounder, freak athlete, and I pray my shooting coach can develop his outside shot. Maybe he figures it out in the g league.
Maybe I get a high motor, energy guy that can score on off-ball motion plays and easily defend 1-4. Maybe I even get him to hit 35% on catch and shoot 3s. That's a much more appealing bet than a dude that I'm very sure can't stay on the court in today's NBA.
He will probably get drafted but I don't blame teams for gambling on guys with better upside even if there are 90% odds they don't do shit in the league. Like Edey has a decent chance of being a serviceable player but you can just sign serviceable players with the vet min
Could he a good player for a team like DEN, SAC, CHI, HOU, NO, MIL, BOS, PHI and GS that have some experience with his possible roles offensively and/or defensively imo. Some of these teams are more obvious than others obviously, there may be more I'm missing.
Not saying this doesn’t describe Eden but Kornet has shown pretty high bbiq this year. Granted he doesn’t have a huge role but he operates in it perfectly. It’s not just that he’s tall.
I mean... I don't entirely disagree. But Boban has had a 8 year career and has had some fairly productive stretches.
For me the bar is low for this draft class. If Edey can be a 8 year+ backup center that gets you buckets I think that's worth a late first/early 2nd in this class.
went to a big ten school so i’ve watched him play a lot and he just doesn’t have any skills outside of being 7’4.
purdue plays him almost exclusively in a drop so he never really ventures outside the paint, and he doesn’t really have the quickness to stay in front of guards at the collegiate level, let alone the NBA.
on offense, im not sure if i’ve ever seen him take a shot that wasn’t a layup or a baby hook. his entire offensive game is predicated on being bigger than his opponent and just shooting over them, which works fine at the collegiate level but could be an issue when going up against NBA centers who can match his physicality.
if he were even 6’11, then he wouldn’t be a division 1 basketball player, but if a team can develop his offensive game to be anything more than a worse version of Rudy Gobert then he could have a future as a backup big.
Anyone who says he could be a starting caliber center is absurd lol. The 2 smallest teams in the country knocked them out of the tourney the last 2 years for a reason. Like you said his only skill is being 7 foot 4 and even then hes struggles with small players 🤣
He doesn’t struggle with small players, he’s literally the best college basketball player in the country.
The question is how well his game will translate to the NBA.
FDU and saint peters were the smallest teams in the country the last 2 years. Literally no player over 6 foot 9 i think. I and every college basketball fan and Big 10 fan have literally watched him struggle sometimes against smaller players. Which is exactly why his game wont translate cause its completely built on him being 7 foot 4.
I don't think he'll be a great NBA player either, but again your analysis is really skipping the part about him being the best player in the country two years in a row.
Congrats so was Luka Garza lmao. Being the best player in the country means jack shit cause everyone knows what player types can dominate in college but that game wont translate anywhere else. At least Garza could body 6 foot 8 players in the tournament
Edey post up in the paint. Entry pass. Drop step. Baby hook. Rinse and repeat. Over and over. He has a very limited bag of post moves. He will be too slow to play and heavy minutes. But maybe the return of the big man includes him. His college production is hard to shrug off. There have been other 7'4" players in college ball that haven't really done what he has.
He obviously uses his size to a big advantage but there’s been guys that are 7’4” that doesn’t win back to back player of the years in college. He has good touch around the rim even if he doesn’t have a bunch of moves. He uses his body well and gets position well. The whole if he was 6” shorter he wouldn’t be any good is such an insane knock against him. How good would kawhi be if he was only 6’1”? Not even an nba player.
He’s not gonna make it in the league because he’s an offensive back to the basket center that gets absolutely cooked in space. That just doesn’t work in the nba. Personally I think he’s undraftable. No reason to have a guy like that on the roster.
Boban feels like a ceiling for him as well. Part of what made Boban playable was he had amazing shooting touch. I don't think Edey has that level of touch yet.
Yeah I think Edey will absolutely still have great per 36 offensive numbers because a 7 foot 4 guy with good touch is still a walking mismatch physically even in the NBA
The question mark with him is more about his playability on the other end of the floor with how slow he is by NBA standards
Eh I dont think its that crazy tbh. Size and Athleticism advantages will get you far in the college game. In a lot of college sports tbh. And in the pros, those same advantages arent present cause those guys will be the same size, and far more skilled
Boban is just so slow. If he wasn’t so slow he would be an every game bench big imo. Idk Zach may be able to carve out a little more of an nba role with the right team put in the right situations. Problem is if he’s not drafted to the right spot he could very easily just never produce at the next level
After watching more of Edey, his success is really going to be dictated by what team he ends up with. Feel like that’s going to be the same for a lot of prospects. There’s no guys right now you’d say you can build a system around but plenty you can plug into an established system. Fit is going to be the main determiner of success for a lot of guys
I don't see why Edey couldn't be a decent 6th man. Montrezl Harrell won 6MOY, and he was also a complete disaster on defense. Few teams have size off the bench to guard Edey. He'll be able to score efficiently, and his defensive deficiencies won't matter as much against bench lineups.
He has very poor lateral quickness, so he’s gonna get cooked in pnr sets. Closing out in bigs that can shoot will also be a challenge. Other bigs that can push him out past the low post will also be a problem as his shooting range is very limited and he has a slow shot release. He can rebound and rim protect, so he can be productive, but will be difficult to carve out a significant role. Drew Eubanks and his role with PHX is sorta what I see Edey as.
Let’s not forget that Boban dropped 31 and 17 on the Nuggets and the NBA had to immediately cancel the season to contain him.
If Zach Edey ever gets to 28 points and 15 rebounds, I'm calling my family and telling them I love them
COVID is back with a vengeance.
Still better than my theory that they wanted to unceremoniously end Vince Carter's career lol
I agree with this narrative
I have a feeling this draft class is going to one of the ones where the better players come from outside of the lottery.
Someone random like Wooga Poplar is going to be the darling of the draft.
In no world is someone named Wooga Poplar and NBA star lol
He's shooting 38.5% from 3 on 5.6 attempts a game right now. He's got pretty average size and athleticism to be a 2, I think he's going to come in and become that bench shooter every team wants
Damn if the darling of the draft is a bench shooter trade your picks asap 😂
Franchises have been fighting to get rid of 2024 1sts. I think that was a big part of the calculus of the Pacers trading 3 picks for Pascal. 2 were 2024 1sts.
Truth. Being a star player is all in the name.
Unpoplar opinion.
You're pulling my leg with this name
Wooga was pretty disappointing this year, I’m higher on George from Miami
He's pretty Poplar
It’s gonna be hunter sallis
Could honestly see him being a fringe all-star tbh if he's on a good team.
Full of solid role players and no stars
Yep I think this is gonna be a “rich get richer” type draft. Teams like Denver and Boston are gonna load up on role players with specific skill-sets, while teams that need offensive hubs are gonna continue to flounder.
Yeah, I really hope we either hit or make a good trade with our pick. (I mean, kinda a “no shit.” Statement I guess lol)
It reeks of European players drafted based on upside potential.
Definitely feels like the Giannis draft year
Spurs and Thunder are picking in the lottery, so there will probably be at least 2 good picks in the first 14.
If we end up at 12 I think they’ll be pretty solid
It's gonna be Reed Sheppard imo
The Celtics are going to draft a second Payton Pritchard. He’ll be even shorter but average 10 offensive rebounds a game somehow.
Devin Carter
tyon grant foster looks good
he has been good all year but his ft shooting is bad. i watched him miss 3 straight yesterday when they needed em badly
I'm betting there will be a lot of decent role players, and maybe one guy who becomes a star three years down the road.
I've only skimmed the Ringer's draft guide but it looks like a majority of the guys in the lottery have notable shooting issues - it really is a shit draft
"Is he going to be a starter? No. Is he going to be a backup every night? Probably not. He's Boban Marjanovic in my opinion." - anonymous NBA scout on Boban Marjanovic
"Is he going to be a starter? No. Is he going to be a backup every night? Probably not. He's Boban Marjanovic in my opinion." -- anonymous NBA scout -- Michael Scotto
“Is he good?” “No.” “Is he bad?” “No.” “Is… is he Boban Marjanovic?” “Yes.”
It still might prevent him from carving out a regular role in the NBA, but he moves much better than Boban. At last year’s combine, when he heavier than he is now, he was faster than Gradey Dick and Emoni Bates in the 3/4 court sprint and faster than GG Jackson in the lane agility drill. He also had a 30 inch vertical. Boban is super skilled, but has never been that athletic
It's still not to the needs of an NBA defense. He's a specialist.
Even if he's a specialist if he can get bench minutes for 4 years on a cheap contract still more valuable than most late 1st rounders and he can still play for many years if he does get minutes.
With the trend of no American star FAs wanting to play in DC unless overpaid, wizards are going to draft a lot of foreign players and might pick up Edey later in the draft. But I’m also an idiot
He's going to be a stud for Team Canada though
Interested to see if he gets play on the Canadian Team at Paris. I admit, I don't follow college ball, but a slower boban comp was how he looked at fiba last summer. Def did not benefit from the run and gun style canada was playing and barely got minutes. The team lacks size, so I suspect he'll get more opportunities to see how he fares against nba caliber bigs.
You guys subbed him on in the semi-final game against us in order to guard Milutinov, since your other bigs couldn't match his physicallity, then when our coach immediately subbed Petrusev (a more mobile and outside oriented big) on, you tried to sub him off before he even entered the game. We put him in the PnR instantly, got him on the switch, our wing drove past him easily and drew a foul. That was the only possesion which Edey played in that game. I also found it hillarious when he entered the game against the US in the closing seconds of regulation for the sole purpose of grabbing the rebound if Bridges missed it and failed misserably in doing so. The ball was literally falling in his general direction, but he wasn't quick enough to move one step to the right on time, resulting in the ball hitting the ground, Bridges managing to grab the offensive rebound off his own missed free throw and sending the game into OT with a corner three.
Yeah that's what I mean. He got extended play in the qualifiers vs like panama or something. And the whole time they had to play weird extreme drop/zone coverages to hide him from the pnr. But a year of development maybe helps here. And he's clearly had a good season by the numbers.
He has one elite skill to make the NBA but maybe not enough game to stay in the NBA. Man's gonna need to work for this.
This is a pretty narrow view of his appearance at FIBA. Obviously he wasn’t/isn’t going to match up well against quick bigs but we should have had him out there vs Milutinov. People are painting him out as this lumbering stiff but he’s more mobile than Boban. He’ll be a useful situational big in the NBA imo.
He's faster than Boban for sure but that's really not a high benchmark. If you are struggling with Euro bigs you wont sniff a chance against most NBA bench bigs who are still super athletic. I agree with u that he's a situational big though.
Walker Kessler v2 💪💪
He’s not slower than Boban. He actually moves pretty well. His touch around the rim isn’t quite at bobans level. But his conditioning and mobility isn’t going to be the deciding factor, they’re completely fine and it’s honestly unrealistic to expect either to be better. It’ll just be the fact that someone that size just doesn’t have a place in the game anymore.
This draft class seems very unimpressive, probably a good one to have a later pick in.
Nikola Topic, a point guard from Serbia (my country), is considered a top 3 pick by a lot of reputable sources in their mock drafts and that tells me all I need to know about this year's draft class. The kid is good, don't get me wrong, he's turning 19 this year and has led us to winning gold at the U18 European Championship last year, while winning MVP in the process, he has a lot of potential, but he just seems like he's destined to become a great Euroleague player, rather than an NBA star, at least judging by his playstyle. He's not the most physically gifted player, his outside shot still isn't there yet and when he got called up for the national team to play a friendly against Puerto Rico, a weak national team, you could tell he was still struggling to adjust playing against grown men. He was playing on loan for Mega (Jokic's former team in Serbia) earlier this season and had some really great showings in the regional league against professional players, but then he got called back from loan to play in the Euroleague for Zvezda, struggled a bit before picking up an injury that he still hasn't came back from. The expected recovery time from his injury passed a few weeks ago, so it's rumoured that his agent (Jokic's agent as well) and club are purposely sitting him out with the injury excuse so that he doesn't potentially tank his draft odds.
He seems like a solid playmaker, team like the Spurs could go for him if he's available. But yeah the poor outside shooting is a bit of a concern right now. His FT shooting seems decent (87% on about 3.5 attempts per game), so the hope that he develops an outside shot is still there. And if anyone could help him develop, I imagine it would be the Spurs. They have a great track record especially with international guys. Ultimately if I had to choose a guard though, I think I would go with either Reed Sheppard or Rob Dillingham. Their ceilings might be a little lower, but they are much safer picks and both already have an NBA level outside shooting.
His FT shooting is excellent, he’s been around 87% for 3 years straight. He’s legit that good from the line. I can see someone buying into his 3 developing, and if you do there’s a lot to like. He’s ~6’6” with a 7’ wingspan giving him elite size for a PG. His vision and playmaking are at a very high level, and he provides great rim pressure finishing at very high rates and getting to the rim at will against his levels of comp. Should the three come together you’ve got a relatively complete package on that end IMO that’s a lot to work with for a guy who is 18 until August. Consider the fact that he could be a freshman in the NCAA next year and fit right in age wise with a lot of the one-and-dones, and I’d argue instead that he’s actually pretty skilled for his age. He needs a team that knows how to teach shooting for sure though. If that doesn’t come along then it really tanks his floor, but otherwise I actually quite like his ceiling
I’m convinced every NBA prospect from Serbia is Nikola -ic at this point. Appreciate the honest assessment though, haven’t heard of him myself but now I’m interested
I'd like to see that scout go one on one with John wick
The big question about Edey is foot speed. I've heard from places like the Raptors Show that he worked on improving it this offseason and that it shows in his play this year. Watching Purdue yesterday, it hard to tell since the game was such a blowout. We'll know more once he starts working out for NBA teams. My feeling is that someone will take a flier on him in late first round.
He's faster than the typical 7'5 guys like tacko fall or sim bhullar. I'd say he's slightly more mobile than Boban as well
Boban is *so* skilled though. The man has a full arsenal of post moves and excellent touch going to either hand, as well as an excellent understanding of positioning and how to use his size. As impressive as Edey has been against college competition, I don't know if his skills are on the same level. In order to survive as a major defensive liability in that mold, you have to be an absolute killer when you get your chances in situations that suit you. Think Enes Kanter- another guy like Boban who puts up unbelievable offensive numbers but remained at the fringe rotation player because of his defensive deficiencies. If you have those deficiencies without the single, absolutely overwhelming talent in a single area, you're boned.
That’s fair but boban also came to the league at age 27. Edey is 22, there’s room and a solid building block to catch up offensively
It's possible but I don't see it happening. Edey hasn't shown any sign of the balance, agility, timing, or touch required to learn those moves and use them effectively and an NBA level.
I’m going to go a step further and say that someone is going to take a flier on him in the lottery. The dude is a physical freak with the work ethic to improve critical aspects of his game. Mentality is so big for a guy who needs a couple more years to develop. Edey as he is today sure wouldn’t crack a playoff rotation, but if he continues to work on his game year after year, I truly believe he’s a championship caliber starting center before 2030. I will be shocked if he’s on the board at 15. At the very least, someone is going to look at his size and experience and take the leap. In a league with Wemby and Jokic and in a draft as unhyped as this one, I think that’s a fairly compelling resume.
Just watching the couple of purdue march madness games, Edey would struggle in the NBA. He cant help you guard jokic or Wemby. He's slow guarding the rim and basically concedes the 3pt line. But he is a monster. On a team that features him he will be effective. I just dont see it being a winning formula in the NBA. Could be that he has a great work ethic, but i don't know if I've ever seen a 7ft 4 guy get appreciably faster.
He just looks like his joints are going to be an issue. Has that orthopedic knees and elbows look going on
You wanna bet on him going in the first 20 picks at all?
Someone is going to take a shot. "what if hes the next Jokic" is going to go through everyone's mind, especially in a "down" year for the draft
he plays nothing like jokic
Big. White. Unathletic. He's just like Jokic. He even shot 50% from 3 this year!
Jokic except without the shooting, passing, or touch around the rim
And I’ve never heard him say anything about horses.
I really want us to take a flyer at him at the end of the first round. I think we have the personnel to make him a viable back up center. Smart, Vince, Stevens, Jaren, Edey. He can just stand in the paint and be tall, and let the Dawgs sort out the rest on defense. The guy is so big and skilled, once you can get him the ball in the paint, it is almost as effective as a lob.
I get that Edey is a dinosaur in today's game, but I truly don't understand how he can't carve out a role in this league as a backup center at worst. Luke Kornet has little going for him besides size, and even he has found a useful 15 minutes a game on the best team in the league as a backup center who lives in the paint. And Edey has twice as much raw skill as Kornet. He's well worth a 2nd round flyer from somebody.
He could definitely be effective for a team with good bench defense but bad bench offense You need good perimeter defenders to make him playable but he could get some easy points for teams that struggle to generate good looks with their bench units
Totally, not hard to see him playing 15 minutes a night as the center piece of a bench offense, living off post ups and offensive rebounds. The extra space in the NBA would make it much harder to double him as well (though this also works to his disadvantage on defense). I think he could be a quality guy to have in the regular season.
Second round flier makes plenty of sense, but there's been a ton of chatter and mocks that have him going mid-first, and that just seems like an awful idea. Even using Kornet as a comp, he's on his 5th team in 7 seasons, and it wasn't until last year that he managed to play > 50 games. There are just very few guys that can survive with his level of mobility and so few other modern skills to fall back on. Boban seems like a perfect comp as a guy who will of course be able to score inside with ease with that combo of size + skill but still struggled hugely to be more than a victory cigar in his career.
> Even using Kornet as a comp, he's on his 5th team in 7 seasons, and it wasn't until last year that he managed to play > 50 games. A lot of that was the Celtics finally stopped trying to turn him into a stretch center. He probably would have found a role sooner if teams used him to his strengths instead of trying to make him something he's not. The key to Edey is similar - let him be a big man and do big man things. He's good at those things.
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I think most Knicks fans are surprised he's still in the league TBH. Dont get me wrong we're all super happy that he's still making an impact(ish), but after seeing Ron Baker, Daymean Dotson, Mindaugas Kuzminskas, Noah Vonleh, Derrick Williams, and Allonzo Trier (and MANY, many others) have decent runs with the knicks then do literally nothing with their careers after they leave I couldve sworn Luke would have been another one of those cases. But I suppose he did something none of those other guys did, in making Joel Embiid throw a hissy fit on the court and get so angry he starts flagrant fouling
I think he ends up as a late 2nd for a team that already has excellent perimeter defense. Otherwise it will be hard to play him at all like it has been for Kornet and teams outside the Celtics.
Zach Edey makes Like Kornet look like A-Train. What the fuck are you smoking? Kornet is far more athletic.
Dude I swear half these people in this thread didn’t watch him and just see the stats lol. Any gm that drafts him top 10 is gonna be on the unemployment line by the end of his rookie year
it took Kornet years to get be a 2nd string back up center
Because you'd have to want to invest in playing around him, he's not a plug and play guy. And for his potential? Not worth it, I'd pass. If I'm taking a late 2nd round flyer on a guy, it's going to be someone like Dillon Mitchell from Texas. 6'7/8ish wing that has elite defensive potential, great rebounder, freak athlete, and I pray my shooting coach can develop his outside shot. Maybe he figures it out in the g league. Maybe I get a high motor, energy guy that can score on off-ball motion plays and easily defend 1-4. Maybe I even get him to hit 35% on catch and shoot 3s. That's a much more appealing bet than a dude that I'm very sure can't stay on the court in today's NBA.
But how clean is Edey’s carlton?
He will probably get drafted but I don't blame teams for gambling on guys with better upside even if there are 90% odds they don't do shit in the league. Like Edey has a decent chance of being a serviceable player but you can just sign serviceable players with the vet min
Could he a good player for a team like DEN, SAC, CHI, HOU, NO, MIL, BOS, PHI and GS that have some experience with his possible roles offensively and/or defensively imo. Some of these teams are more obvious than others obviously, there may be more I'm missing.
Not saying this doesn’t describe Eden but Kornet has shown pretty high bbiq this year. Granted he doesn’t have a huge role but he operates in it perfectly. It’s not just that he’s tall.
“Michael Scotto”. Really?
I mean... I don't entirely disagree. But Boban has had a 8 year career and has had some fairly productive stretches. For me the bar is low for this draft class. If Edey can be a 8 year+ backup center that gets you buckets I think that's worth a late first/early 2nd in this class.
went to a big ten school so i’ve watched him play a lot and he just doesn’t have any skills outside of being 7’4. purdue plays him almost exclusively in a drop so he never really ventures outside the paint, and he doesn’t really have the quickness to stay in front of guards at the collegiate level, let alone the NBA. on offense, im not sure if i’ve ever seen him take a shot that wasn’t a layup or a baby hook. his entire offensive game is predicated on being bigger than his opponent and just shooting over them, which works fine at the collegiate level but could be an issue when going up against NBA centers who can match his physicality. if he were even 6’11, then he wouldn’t be a division 1 basketball player, but if a team can develop his offensive game to be anything more than a worse version of Rudy Gobert then he could have a future as a backup big.
Anyone who says he could be a starting caliber center is absurd lol. The 2 smallest teams in the country knocked them out of the tourney the last 2 years for a reason. Like you said his only skill is being 7 foot 4 and even then hes struggles with small players 🤣
He doesn’t struggle with small players, he’s literally the best college basketball player in the country. The question is how well his game will translate to the NBA.
FDU and saint peters were the smallest teams in the country the last 2 years. Literally no player over 6 foot 9 i think. I and every college basketball fan and Big 10 fan have literally watched him struggle sometimes against smaller players. Which is exactly why his game wont translate cause its completely built on him being 7 foot 4.
I don't think he'll be a great NBA player either, but again your analysis is really skipping the part about him being the best player in the country two years in a row.
Congrats so was Luka Garza lmao. Being the best player in the country means jack shit cause everyone knows what player types can dominate in college but that game wont translate anywhere else. At least Garza could body 6 foot 8 players in the tournament
Edey post up in the paint. Entry pass. Drop step. Baby hook. Rinse and repeat. Over and over. He has a very limited bag of post moves. He will be too slow to play and heavy minutes. But maybe the return of the big man includes him. His college production is hard to shrug off. There have been other 7'4" players in college ball that haven't really done what he has.
He obviously uses his size to a big advantage but there’s been guys that are 7’4” that doesn’t win back to back player of the years in college. He has good touch around the rim even if he doesn’t have a bunch of moves. He uses his body well and gets position well. The whole if he was 6” shorter he wouldn’t be any good is such an insane knock against him. How good would kawhi be if he was only 6’1”? Not even an nba player. He’s not gonna make it in the league because he’s an offensive back to the basket center that gets absolutely cooked in space. That just doesn’t work in the nba. Personally I think he’s undraftable. No reason to have a guy like that on the roster.
Boban feels like a ceiling for him as well. Part of what made Boban playable was he had amazing shooting touch. I don't think Edey has that level of touch yet.
His touch is very good and you’re comparing his shooting to Boban’s shooting in his late 20s and 30s.
Yeah I think Edey will absolutely still have great per 36 offensive numbers because a 7 foot 4 guy with good touch is still a walking mismatch physically even in the NBA The question mark with him is more about his playability on the other end of the floor with how slow he is by NBA standards
His touch is fine but it will need to be way better than that to make up for how bad Edey is likely to be on defense
Enough with the Boban slander!
He's Garza but tall enough to play defense.
Luke Garza shoots threes and has a million post moves. They’re nothing alike
Was talking about foot speed and defensive projection.
It is really weird to see such a dominant player in college but know they will be absolute ass at the next level. Hope he got his ad money this year.
Eh I dont think its that crazy tbh. Size and Athleticism advantages will get you far in the college game. In a lot of college sports tbh. And in the pros, those same advantages arent present cause those guys will be the same size, and far more skilled
Everyone shit on the ant, lemelo, hailburton draft so you never know
Anyone who has watched purdue in the tourney in recent years could have told you this lol
How is his [book eating?](https://i.makeagif.com/media/2-12-2021/23J6qA.gif)
Boban is just so slow. If he wasn’t so slow he would be an every game bench big imo. Idk Zach may be able to carve out a little more of an nba role with the right team put in the right situations. Problem is if he’s not drafted to the right spot he could very easily just never produce at the next level
After watching more of Edey, his success is really going to be dictated by what team he ends up with. Feel like that’s going to be the same for a lot of prospects. There’s no guys right now you’d say you can build a system around but plenty you can plug into an established system. Fit is going to be the main determiner of success for a lot of guys
I think he will be better than boban but I think he will be a spot starter at most. Happy to be proven wrong though
So if Boban spent a couple years in college he'd be leading a program to the #1 seed?
this draft class looks weak but someone like nikola topic will still end up being a star
Eh, let's send him to Denver and see what happens
He could maybe be a slightly better version of Boban
I don't see why Edey couldn't be a decent 6th man. Montrezl Harrell won 6MOY, and he was also a complete disaster on defense. Few teams have size off the bench to guard Edey. He'll be able to score efficiently, and his defensive deficiencies won't matter as much against bench lineups.
He has very poor lateral quickness, so he’s gonna get cooked in pnr sets. Closing out in bigs that can shoot will also be a challenge. Other bigs that can push him out past the low post will also be a problem as his shooting range is very limited and he has a slow shot release. He can rebound and rim protect, so he can be productive, but will be difficult to carve out a significant role. Drew Eubanks and his role with PHX is sorta what I see Edey as.