We’re just hours away from the 2024 NBA Draft, and my research that consists of YouTube breakdowns, old school scouting reports, and dozens of podcasts is nearly complete. I have a confession to make:
I like Zach Edey.
I’ll never sell myself as a college basketball expert or draft guru, but I know what the Kings are missing, and I think Edey can be legitimately helpful in several of those areas.
Edey’s floor as a bench center with Malik Monk is a terrifying combination for opposing defenses. Monk’s pick-and-roll prowess combined with Edey’s size, elite screening, and touch can punish every bench unit in the NBA. With no exaggeration included here, they could be the best 1-2 bench punch in the league.
Edey’s size is a problem that I don’t think the NBA can solve. His ability to draw fouls reminds me a lot of DeMarcus Cousins. For those who remember, Boogie would draw fouls through his post-up physicality without even touching the ball. Like Cousins, Edey is going to be very difficult to dislodge from advantageous post positions, and I believe you’ll see him draw a lot of fouls from smaller defenders who are just trying to knock him off his spot before the ball even gets to him down low.
The Kings are one of the worst teams in the NBA in both foul drawing and foul shooting. Edey will help everyone’s offensive game by getting the Kings in the bonus early and often. Here’s a fun fact: Edey shot 127 more free throws last season than anyone else in college basketball. He also shoots them above 70%, which is pretty decent for a center. He averaged an insane 11.7 FTA for Purdue last year, and I love free throw attempts as a skill that typically translates when players make the jump from college basketball to the NBA.
For those who would argue that you can’t draft a backup center at #13, I hear you while also somewhat disagreeing with that position. Nobody the Kings draft at #13 is likely starting from day one. The Kings don’t need Edey to be a starter right now. And if he develops into a starting caliber center, that is a good problem to have. I’ll throw out Ivica Zubac as a role comp. Zubac was tremendous for the Clippers off the bench in 2020-21 before developing into an NBA starter.
And let’s talk about his ceiling. If he develops a shot, all bets are off. The NBA is trending big. For as great as Sabonis is, there are certain areas where he is incapable of improving: rim protection and size. Sabonis’ strength on defense is his ability to stay in front of quicker forwards. Can he do it full time? I don’t know. But I do know Edey would solve the size and rim protection issue, and the combination could be equally punishing offensively if they can stay out of each others way.
As a point-center, Sabonis spends more time on offense outside of the paint than a lot of traditional bigs. I’m not drafting Edey with the expectation that he and Sabonis would be a seamless fit to play big minutes together, but I’m certainly not taking it off the table. There is a world in today’s bigger NBA where this both works, and solves a lot of the size problems the Kings are currently dealing with.
Lastly, the biggest knock on Edey is his pace. He’s slow. He doesn’t move great laterally. I get it. But I’ll say this: For as much as Kings fans romanticize playing fast with pace and speed, this team doesn’t really play that way a lot of the time. In the Mike Brown era, for better or worse, the Kings have never been a top-10 pace team. They’re just about average. Edey is slow, but he plays hard and is extremely durable. This gigantic man averaged over 30 MPG during his last two seasons at Purdue. Conditioning has not been an issue for him.
That’s about it. While Edey isn’t my first choice at #13 depending on who else is available, I took a hard pivot from hating on the idea of drafting him to actually sorta liking it and realizing how it could benefit the Kings in both the short and long term.
