Zach Edey entered the 2024 NBA Draft as probably the most divisive prospects in latest reminiscence. With the fashionable NBA trending extra in the direction of pace and expert dimension, Edey’s sport gave the impression to be a relic of an older interval. Edey, who stands at 7’4″ and is listed at 305 lbs., isn’t the fleetest of foot and might be uncovered by trendy NBA offenses. Even then, the Memphis Grizzlies believed in his potential, drafting him with the ninth general decide of final 12 months’s draft.
Not a lot has modified concerning many followers and analysts’ analysis of Edey. However for somebody who’s new to the NBA, Edey positive does catch loads of flak regularly, which continued in the course of the Grizzlies’ first-round sequence sweep by the hands of the Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder.
Nonetheless, the Grizzlies group stays assured in what Edey brings to the desk, with Zach Kleiman calling the discourse surrounding the 22-year-old rookie “wild” due to how a lot the 7’4″ man stands out.
“The discourse round Zach Edey is so wild as a result of the errors are so loud,” Kleiman stated, per Drew Hill of The Each day Memphian.
Edey’s sport is clearly restricted, and that is particularly the case for rookie huge males who’re nonetheless getting accustomed to the breakneck pace of the NBA sport. Even then, the Grizzlies rookie held his personal on loads of events, and he went out with a excessive throughout their Sport 4 loss to the Thunder by blocking seven pictures.
Huge males have a tendency to wish time to acclimate to the NBA, and maybe Edey can blossom right into a wrecking ball of a two-way drive as soon as he matures even additional. The Grizzlies will certainly want him to enhance as they attempt to proper the ship and get the franchise again on observe.
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Zach Edey — long-term keeper for the Grizzlies or long-term bench choice?
In at this time’s NBA, huge males have to have the ability to guard in house. Zach Edey’s bodily limitations, nevertheless, imply that he is restricted to enjoying some strict drop protection, which will be loss of life towards groups with guards who can pull up from past the arc.
The extra conventional huge males could make up for it with positional consciousness and the power to dominate the inside sport — each on the glass and on the scoreboard. Edey is just 22, so the Grizzlies can afford him a while to grow to be the long-term keeper they suppose he will be sometime.