Zach Edey on the Spurs Makes Too Much Sense
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As we get closer to March, I get more excited for the NCAA basketball tournament. Even with Michigan's men's basketball team having a bad season, the football team won the title by the way, in case you all forgot, I still want to watch the tourney. Hell, I'll even check in from time to time with the NIT. I like tournament basketball. The stakes are the highest, we get cool upsets and we see who the best of the best is in the end. The fact that the tournament is around the corner means that it is also the NBA mock draft season.
I look at these closer this time of year because I want to know what players to watch as we get into conference tournaments and March Madness. The mock drafts let me know who I may have forgotten about, or what player from a sleeper team I need to see. This was when my love for Ja Morant started. I saw his name fly up draft boards and I started to pay more attention as his Murray State team made a mini run in the tournament. So, I was looking at a mock draft on Bleacher Report a little bit ago and I saw that this writer had Zach Edey mocked to the Spurs as the 33rd overall pick, the first pick of the second round.
I kind of brushed it off and thought, Edey is big, strong and skilled, he may be a mid to late first rounder. But when I was cleaning my house, I thought a little more about this spot, and the team he was mocked to, the Spurs. For those that may not know, Edey is the starting center for Purdue. Purdue is a good team. They've been in the top 5 all year. And Edey is their best player. He also happens to be 7'4 and he weighs 300 pounds. That is one big dude. I watch him a lot, I'm a Michigan fan so I watch the Big 10 specifically, and not only is he big, Edey is skilled. He has great post moves. He is a good defender. He is a good rebounder due to his height. He is a solid passer. He can see over everyone. And he is pretty dominant in one of the better conferences in all of the country. The only knock on him is his outside shooting, which is non-existent. But, he should make for a fine bench/role player in the NBA. Him being 7'4 has got to be enticing. And this is not a Tacko Fall or Manute and Bol Bol thing. Those guys are very tall and kind of skilled. But they were skinny. Edey is skilled and thick. He will be able to deal with all the stuff that goes down in the post in the NBA. This all works in his favor.
Then, if the Spurs do draft him, they are teaming him up with Victor Webanyama, maybe the best young talent in the NBA. Wemby is amazing. He is supremely skilled. He can dribble like a point guard, shoot like a 2 guard, defend all positions, run an offense, have an offense run through him, rebound, be a menace on defense, he can basically do it all. He has been as advertised. I know the Spurs are very bad right now, but Wemby is worth watching. He is doing amazing stuff night in and night out. But, while he is 7'4 and can do pretty much everything, he is 18 and skinny. Edey can come in and take on the bigger guys in the league and let Wemby be a rover on defense. Edey can come in and find that his role is defense and rebounding, and let Wemby continue to blossom. He can be his backup, or the Spurs could start the two of them together in the low post. That would be a nightmare for opponents, trying to score over those two. Then you throw in a guy like Jeremy Sochan who is already a good defender and menace. He is also 6'8. The Spurs could go guard in this draft, but they do have Tre Jones, who has proven to be a good pick and roll player. They could let Zach Collins or Charles Bassey walk and be okay with Edey sliding into one of their spots. And guys like Malaki Branham, Devin Vassell and Keldon Johnson will be able to hound guards on the perimeter, knowing that they have two 7'4 guys waiting to protect the rim.
I kind of love this idea in this mock draft I read today. Pairing these two is an exercise I'd like to see take place. If Edey pans out even a little bit, the Spurs could be a force within a year or two simply due to their defense. I say do it San Antonio. Take Zach Edey at a reasonable spot if he is available in the upcoming draft. They are trying to build around Wemby, and building means protecting the young star. This will be a great protection on the defensive end. I hope it happens and I hope it works. These two on the floor at the same time would be very cool for me to watch as a fan. Go do it.
Ty
Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.
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