Grizzlies General Manager Explains Why Memphis Liked Zach Edey

One of the few big surprises from the first round of this year’s NBA draft came from the Memphis Grizzlies, who selected Purdue All-American Zach Edey with the No. 9 pick. Edey’s resume as a college player is impeachable but how his game transitions to the NBA is a very big question mark. So it was a bit shocking to see Edey go in the top-10, and even more so to see him picked by the Grizzlies, a team featuring an up-tempo superstar who can’t shoot very well in Ja Morant.

On Wednesday night after it was all said and done, Memphis general manager Zach Kleiman spoke to local media and explained why Edey was the right pick for the team at this juncture.

“It’s not easy to build a team that really can not just deal with different types of matchups,” Kleiman said, per Damichael Cole of the Commercial Appeal. “But what really appealed to us about Zach, you spend a lot of time trying to figure out how do we match up against this team, how do we match up against that team. Zach is incredibly unique in that you got to deal with him. From a size standpoint, from a physicality standpoint, that’s something other teams are going to have to grapple with. We want to have looks to throw out there that give us the advantage.”

Regardless of how it plays out at the NBA level, Kleiman is on point with how unique Edey is. Standing at 7-foot-4, the two-time Player of the Year is a basketball giant from the days of yore, when the Mark Eatons and Manute Bols of the world ruled the court. Not many players built like him can survive in the wide-open space of today’s fast-pace NBA. But if Edey can— as Kleiman seems to believe— then it is very tricky for opponents to deal with how much of the court he takes up on both ends of the court.

Which, when Kleiman got into specifics, sounds like what the GM is most excited about.

“As a roll threat to the basket, Ja has a way of finding guys,” Kleiman said after saying Morant was “thrilled” with the pick. “My God, you’ve got some size for Ja to find now. That’s a pairing that we’re really excited about.”

Morant’s court vision has always been stellar but the Grizzlies have struggled to find the ideal pick-and-roll partner for the high-flying point guard. Jaren Jackson Jr. is a pick-and-pop specialist and Steven Adams wasn’t able to do much on that end of the court even before he got hurt. Edey gives Morant a weapon unlike any other, in pretty much every respect possible.

 

 

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The storybook career of Zach Edey has taken its next step when the two-time National Player of the Year was selected No. 9 by Memphis during Wednesday’s first night of the NBA Draft.

One of the most-dominant players in college basketball history, Edey heard his name called in the first round, becoming Purdue’s 10th first-round NBA Draft selection in school history and the Boilermakers’ second first-round pick in the last three years.

Kentucky (4), Purdue (2) and Connecticut (2) are the only schools with multiple top-10 picks in the last three NBA Drafts.

Purdue also becomes just the third Big Ten school in NBA Draft history to have two top-10 picks in the same freshman class (Michigan, 1992 – Chris Webber, Juwan Howard; Ohio State, 2007 – Greg Oden, Mike Conley; Purdue, 2021 – Jaden Ivey, Zach Edey).

Edey became the second-highest pick for a Boilermaker in the last 30 years since Glenn Robinson was taken No. 1 in 1994, surpassed only by Jaden Ivey’s selection as the fifth pick overall by the Detroit Pistons in the 2022 Draft.

Purdue went almost 30 years between NBA Draft Lottery picks. Now, it has two in the last three years.

“Obviously, we are thrilled for Zach to be selected by the Grizzlies in the first round of tonight’s NBA Draft,” head coach Matt Painter said. “Zach has been one of the hardest workers we have ever had in our program and he gave himself the opportunity to be in this position tonight. Memphis will be a great fit for him and are excited to watch his NBA journey unfold.”

“This is a dream come true,” Edey said. “Memphis has such a great core and I am really excited to get down there and work. I want to thank the Grizzlies organization for the opportunity and am ready to take the next step in my journey. Go Grizz!”

Edey is the 10th draft pick under Painter and since the 2016 NBA Draft, the sixth Boilermaker taken. Other draft picks include Carl Landry (2007), Johnson and E’Twaun Moore (2011), Robbie Hummel (2012), A.J. Hammons (2016), Swanigan (2017), Vince Edwards (2018), Carsen Edwards (2019) and Jaden Ivey (2022). Six of the picks have come in the last nine drafts.

Edey’s ascent into college basketball’s hierarchy has been well-documented. Having just completed his seventh season of competitive basketball, Edey was a standout baseball and hockey prospect growing up in Toronto, before turning to basketball prior to his sophomore campaign. He transferred to IMG Academy (Fla.) where he was ranked as the No. 436 prospect in the Class of 2020. He committed to Purdue in October 2019 and became one of the top college players in NCAA history.

He won all six National Player of the Year Awards in both 2023 and 2024, becoming the first player since the late Bill Walton in 1972 and 1973 to sweep all National Player of the Year awards in back-to-back seasons. He technically became the sixth two-time National Player of the Year, joining Ralph Sampson (1981, 1982, 1983), Bill Walton (1971, 1972, 1973), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1967, 1969), Jerry Lucas (1961, 1962) and Oscar Robertson (1958, 1959, 1960) as multiple NPOY recipients.

Simply put, Edey had a season and career for the ages and will go down as one of the greatest college basketball players in NCAA history. As a senior, he led Purdue to a 34-5 record and a spot in the National Championship game for the first time in 55 years. He averaged 25.2 points, 12.2 rebounds, 2.2 blocks and 2.0 assists per game while shooting 62.3 percent from the field and 71.1 percent from the free throw line.

In the NCAA Tournament, he was even better, averaging 29.5 points, 14.5 rebounds, 1.8 blocks and 1.8 assists while shooting 64.1 percent from the field. He finished the tournament with 177 points, the third most in NCAA Tournament history, while playing all but four minutes in the last four games of the tournament. In fact, only three players in NCAA Tournament history have scored 150 points with 60 rebounds in the same tournament (Edey, Elvin Hayes, Jerry West) and Edey had 177 points and 87 rebounds.

His 37 points in the National Championship game were tied for the third most in a title game in NCAA history.

The performance capped off one of the most-dominant seasons in history. He scored 983 points with 474 rebounds, joining Houston’s Elvin Hayes (1968) as the only players in NCAA history to reach those marks in a season in NCAA history. He finished the year by scoring at least 20 points with 10 rebounds in nine straight games, while posting 16 straight games of 20 or more points to end his career. He finished the season with ten 30-10 games, the most for a player since Kansas State’s Michael Beasley in 2007-08 (13).

His 983 points and 474 rebounds in a season are both second in Big Ten history in both categories.

Edey’s senior season was the icing on the cake of a career that will be considered one of the best in college basketball history. He finished his career with 2,516 points and 1,321 rebounds – one of six players in history to reach those marks and the first since 1990 (Lionel Simmons, 1987-90; Michael Brooks, Elvin Hayes, Oscar Robertson, Dickie Hemric).

He finished his career third in Big Ten history in scoring and second in rebounding.

Edey will likely play in NBA Summer League contests starting in the next couple of weeks. Schedules will be announced soon.

 

Source: https://www.si.com/nba/grizzlies-zach-edey-draft-pick