CHICAGO – The curious case of Zach Edey.
As a back-to-the-basket presence in Purdue basketball, Edey was an offensive cheat code.
Two-time national player of the year, everything and the leader of the team that was Purdue’s first to reach the Final Four in 44 years.
But …
“I’m the college player of the year, but I’m going to the NBA,” Edey said at the NBA Draft Combine on Tuesday. “You have to leave all that behind. I’m an NBA player now. I have to reestablish myself.”
While Edey has made his mark on college basketball history, there is a general belief that his game will not translate to the faster pace of the NBA.
The problem with Edey is that he is slow and stationary and cannot play far from the basket.
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Big men — and officially at 7 feet, 3 3/4 inches barefoot and with an eight-foot wingspan, no one at the combine is bigger than Edey — need to be able to shoot, defend the perimeter and display lateral quickness.
Fair enough, said Edey.
During Monday’s combine drills, Edey made 14 of 25 3-point shots, shot 60 percent off the dribble, ran three-quarters of the way down the court in 3.51 seconds and had a vertical leap of 31.5 inches.
Keep in mind that it weighs 300 pounds in addition to the measurables mentioned above.
“He did really well. He shot the ball at a high level, moved really well,” said UConn center Donovan Clingan, who guarded Edey in the NCAA championship game last month. “He’s a great player. He’s tall and strong. He’s difficult to move in the post. He hits the ball from both sides at a high level.”
That was the recurring message Edey delivered during his media session on Tuesday.
He can do other things beyond what his college film showed. At Purdue, Edey wasn’t asked, and in terms of winning, the right play for him was to post up, catch and roll, and defend the rim.
Obviously, this was the right decision.
If this is what an NBA franchise needs, Edey believes there is still room even during the NBA’s offensive evolution.
“It’s basketball. It’s the game I’ve been playing for six years,” Edey said. “It’s just better athletes, stronger people, taller people, it’s just basketball. Rebounding is still important. Blocking shots is still important. Boxing is still important. All those things are still important.”
Edey, who entered the NBA draft after his junior season at Purdue before opting out in the final hours before the deadline, is a projected first-round pick.
It remains to be seen how Edey’s name has appeared all over the board in mock drafts.
Those who competed with Edey and are there to watch him in a combine setting know he fits in the NBA, somewhere, somehow.
Marquette point guard Tyler Kolek, represented by the same agency as Edey, made the message clear to the NBA front office.
Don’t overcomplicate it.
“The guy might be the best college player in the last 20 years,” Kolek said. “People who criticize him don’t really know what they’re talking about at the end of the day.
“For him, at the next level, people obviously have question marks. He answered all the question marks in college. I believe he will answer them again.”
Sam King covers sports for the Journal & Courier. Email him at sing@jconline.com and follow him on Twitter and Instagram @samueltking.
This article originally appeared in the Lafayette Journal & Courier: Purdue basketball’s Zach Edey is a fit for the NBA. As the question remains
