The 2024 NBA Draft will be held on Wednesday, June 26th and Thursday, June 27th. Our resident draft expert Bryant has semi-retired from draft scouting, so we won’t have his usual in-depth breakdowns to rely on. So we’re going to do our draft coverage a little differently this year. We’ll present some prospects, share some highlight videos, and share some general thoughts before opening it up to the group to discuss.
Fox40’s Sean Cunningham reported Monday that the Sacramento Kings hosted a sizeable group workout, headlined by Purdue center Zach Edey.
Kings hosted a big pre-draft workout in Sacramento today. According to league sources, Zach Edey (Purdue 7’4 C), Kel’el Ware (Indiana 7’0 C), Jamison Battle (Ohio St. 6’7 PF), Boogie Ellis (USC 6’1 SG), RayJ Dennis (Baylor 6’2 PG) & Jonathan Mogbo (USF 6’9 PF) participated.
— Sean Cunningham (@SeanCunningham) June 17, 2024
We’ll use this news as an excuse to talk about Zach Edey!
NBA Position: Center
General Info: 22-year-old Senior, played at Purdue. From Toronto, Canada.
Measurables: 7’3.75″ w/o shoes, 299.0 lbs, 7’10.75″ wingspan, 9’7″ standing reach.
2023-2024 Season Statistics: 25.2 PPG, 12.2 RPG, 2.0 APG, 0.3 SPG, 2.2 BPG, 2.3 TPG (39 games played, 32.0 minutes per game), 62.3% FG, 50.0% 3P (made one of two attempts for the season), 71.1% FT
I’ve got to be honest, I am not a big fan of Zach Edey’s game. He’s huge, and he has good touch around the basket, but I reeeeally wonder how much of it will translate to the pros. So many of Edey’s highlights boil down to him being so much bigger than his opponents. And while Edey will still be bigger than plenty of guys in the NBA, the NBA is full of guys who will either be closer to Edey’s size or stronger and more experienced at dealing with big bodies. I know the old adage of “you can’t teach size”, but as someone who grew up watching 90s basketball Edey reminds me of dozens of big lumbering centers that NBA teams drafted way too high in an effort to slow down Shaq. You can’t teach size, but size alone does not make you good at basketball. And to clarify, Edey isn’t quite as lumbering as some of those 90s stiffs. But Edey does play with a stiffness to his offensive game, a very slow and methodical style that I is rarely successful in the NBA, and seems like an especially poor fit for the Sacramento Kings.
If the Kings were to draft Edey, I struggle to see how he and Domantas Sabonis would share the floor. Sabonis has not shown a willingness to shoot from distance at enough volume to make opponents leave the key. Sabonis at the top of the key with Edey would clog the lane and stifle any offensive flow. Defense would be an even greater issue. Sabonis can handle a 4 on a switch, but he’s not quick-footed enough to have forwards be his primary defensive assignments. So, if they don’t play together, are you drafting Edey to be a backup center? A backup center who is at his best when the ball is consistently being fed to him with his back to the basket? This would mean a fundamental shift to the offensive system when the backup center is in the game.
Now, here is where it’s important that I reiterate that I am not a draft expert. The advanced stats love Edey. He led the NCAA in PER, Win Shares, Offensive Win Shares, Win Per 40 Minutes, OBPM, BPM, Points, Total Rebounds, and Offensive Rebounds. He had a marvelous college season last year, and maybe it will translate better than my casual eyes think. I think Edey would be a tough fit in Sacramento, and I have my doubts about his NBA prospects as a whole, but he could prove me wrong on both accounts. It certainly wouldn’t be the first time.
