In a month, Zach Edey will have gone from a late first-round draft pick to the Top 10! The best college player in two years, the Purdue pivot convinced the Grizzlies to select him in 9th position. No one imagined him going that high, but in Memphis, they think the Canadian is a “blue collar,” like the franchise's identity.
“Let’s just say it’s exactly what we wanted.” Zach Kleiman reactedthe GM of Memphis. “When we talk about the DNA of this team and what we are trying to build, Zach Edey fits that definition perfectly. We couldn't be happier to have recruited him. There was a lot of mutual excitement about him joining us. »
A threat on both ends of the pitch
For management, he is the ideal pivot to take over from Jonas Valanciunas and Steven Adams and play alongside Jaren Jackson Jr. His 2m24 will be useful to protect the circle and reinforce deterrence, but also in attack to bring a threat on lob passes.
“We're very comfortable with that style of play and Zach has the potential to become a very effective defender over time,” continues Zach Kleiman. “Since he's a threat when he gets open to the basket, Ja will have a lot of solutions… My goodness, we now have the size for Ja to play this style of game. It's a duo that we're really excited about “.
A player who forces the opponent to adapt
For the Grizzlies, it was important to have an old-school pivot to respond to the big guns of the West, like the Nuggets or the Wolves. The goal is to be able to respond to all types of opponents, but also to impose its style.
“It's not easy to build a team that can respond to different types of matchups, but what really appealed to us about Zach is that we spend a lot of time trying to figure out how we can respond to this team, or that team,” concludes the leader. “Zach is incredibly unique in the sense that you can't overlook him. Size-wise, physical-wise, other teams are going to have to adapt. We want to put out team compositions that give us a leg up.”
