Zach Edey scouting report: Can Purdue star big man translate to NBA after dominating college basketball?

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Could the best player in men’s college basketball two years running be a good pro? Never mind a difference-maker or future All-Star — can all 7-feet-4, 300 pounds of Purdue star Zach Edey be utilized and fit within a system to play real minutes and impact the game at the next level?

Sounds a rather crazy question to pose, right? The best college football player almost always makes an impact at the NFL level. Same for the best college golfers or college baseball players or college swimmers in most cases. But that’s the conundrum NBA teams are unpacking as they watch Edey carry his team to the Final Four this week in Glendale, Arizona. 

Edey leads college basketball this season in points, Player Efficiency Rating, Box Plus/Minus and about every other metric determining value under the sun. He is unquestionably the propeller that spins Purdue’s machine and the largest reason it is playing in the final weekend of the NCAA Tournament. Yet projecting him to the next level is a tricky task because of how much the game has changed in recent years. 

In, say, 2004, Edey might have been a lock to be selected in the top five of the NBA Draft. Not so in 2024, where his range could be anywhere from late in the lottery to the second round. 

Amid an evolving NBA landscape where foot speed is critical and defending in space is an essential ask for many of the best bigs in the league, Edey falls just shy of being a no-brainer talent as he readies to move up a level. He’s long, he’s strong, he’s tall and he’s got great instincts. In the NBA, however, he may also be vulnerable. Players are taller, more athletic and more capable to exploit weaknesses, often times rendering more traditional, back-to-the-basket bigs like Edey less useful or at the very least neutralizing their impact.

It’s a credit to Edey that Purdue has made it this far — he has been the best player by an ocean this tournament — but it’s also…

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Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/zach-edey-scouting-report-can-purdue-star-big-man-translate-to-nba-after-dominating-college-basketball/

Author : Kyle Boone

Publish date : 2024-04-04 17:56:31

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