The Memphis Grizzlies entered the 2024 NBA Draft with the rumor that they were going to grab a big man, which turned out to be the worst kept secret as the Beale Street Boys jumped at the chance to select Purdue center Zach Edey with the ninth overall pick.
At Purdue, Edey averaged 25 points, 12 rebounds, two assists and two blocks per game while shooting 62 percent from the field, doing all of his damage in the paint in 39 games during his senior campaign for the Boilermakers.
Memphis is set to lean on Edey throughout his rookie season – a team that has had the most success using Steven Adams in the middle will try to replicate that with their rookie center – looking around their roster, there’s no real backup plan as Brandon Clarke is a center in name only and Jaren Jackson Jr. is allergic to the glass.
In addition to seeing how one of the game’s most brilliant coaches, Taylor Jenkins, unfolds his partnership with Ja Morant, it’s something to watch during the 2024-25 season and beyond. It all starts on Oct. 23 against the Utah Jazz.
This is an interesting start for Edey as the Jazz aren’t much of a threat in the West, although they do have an interesting collection of talent up front, including Lauri Markkanen, Walker Kessler, John Collins, Kyle Filipowski and Taylor Hendricks.
How Edey handles that forward line will be a good litmus test of how ready the center is to handle the NBA game in Year 1.
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