As Purdue basketball star Zach Edey keeps impressing during the team's current run in the NCAA national tournament in their quest for a championship, the talk on the side has been how the player will play beyond the collegiate level. One person that gave his opinion on the matter is former NBA player Gilbert Arenas on his show “Gil's Arena” where he talked about Edey and how general managers in the league should avoid drafting him.
Arenas is not the first nor will he be the last time a person has doubted Edey's potential in the NBA as a lot have mentioned the ceiling is low and that despite his size, his style of play will not translate well to the NBA. The show host even said that while he does not want to talk bad about Edey , who is widely projected as a lottery pick, he predicts that “whoever drafts him in the lottery is probably going to get fired.”
“Listen I don't want to mess a kids hopes up right because you know he's playing a hell of a basketball, but you know I'm pretty sure whoever drafts him in the lottery is probably going to get fired within a few years after that draft pick,” Arenas said. “How he plays the game is not how the game is being played today, so that same player you can find in the second round. So I'm pretty sure he will slip because how is he going to play defense in the NBA now.”
Arenas talks how Edey will struggle in the NBA
Arenas would go more into his reasoning and say that he is not confident in his defensive ability to match up wither other big-men in the league like the Denver Nuggets star in Nikola Jokic or Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid. He would double down on his draft statement on Edey saying that whoever selects the Boilermakers center, it will be a “waste” of a lottery pick, despite his size listed as seven-foot, four inches.
“You only really have two match-ups, which is Joker, Embiid, and they're going to pull you on the outside,” Arenas said. “I mean it's a different game, so unless he can develop a defensive strategy of moving around the perimeter, being switched on, he's just going to be picked on. So to waste a lottery pick on that, I don’t see it happening. But there are stupid general managers out there so it could happen.”
The stock on Edey keeps rising as the Purdue basketball team keeps making strides and advancing in the national tournament as they just recently beat the Tennessee Volunteers, 72-66. to reach the Final Four, the first time for the program since 1980. In that win, Edey was excellent as he dropped 40 points to go along with 16 rebounds. This is definitely a come back for the program after being upset in the first round of the tourney against FDU, despite being a No. 1 seed.
Where the Boilermakers star is projected to go in NBA mock drafts
Speaking of draft position, a recent mock draft from Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo of ESPN had the Boilermakers star go to the Portland Trail Blazers with the No. 13 overall pick, which is part of the lottery. In the article, they reference the exceptional performance in the Elite Eight, saying it could even make him go “into the top 10.”
“Already coming into this game a projected lottery pick, this was exactly the type of performance that could further propel him into the top 10 for one of the many teams that already has bought into the impact he'll surely make in the NBA,” the ESPN article states. “This effort also could go a long way in convincing the holdouts of just how impactful his tremendous size, length, strength, toughness, skill level and intensity can be at the next level.”
Is Edey a lock in the first round?
While there will be continuous discussion about the upside with Edey, the ESPN article mentioned how he is “viewed by most NBA teams” to be a “lock” in the first round, making it nearly impossible to slip further barring a disaster. On the season for the Purdue basketball team, the 21-year old has averaged 25 points, 12.2 rebounds, and two assists, and 2.2 blocks per game while shooting 62.4 percent from the field.
“Edey has been viewed by most NBA teams ESPN has spoken with as a lock first-round pick for months now, but his standing has improved considerably with his late-blooming trajectory (he has only been playing basketball since age 15), competitiveness and the fact that he is still a young senior at age 21.”
Before Edey can think about preparing for the NBA, he still has a chance with the Boilermakers to make history and win a national championship for the program which would be their first ever. They next face North Carolina State in the Final Four on Saturday, April 6.
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