Zach Edey Conundrum - Could Edey be the next great Atlanta Hawk or is he the next Cam Reddish

[theheroatl]

Hawks taking Edey at #1 would be all time stupid and they would get booed and blasted from every corner of the earth..

Whoever takes him at #17 will probably be happy stashing him in the G League

[deester11]

1 hour ago, Sothron said:

According to what I'm hearing as well as the other insiders, yes, they are. Just not at #1. 

I can live with that.  Not at one.  Reality is..if they draft Edey, I am not ok. AT ONE.  Perhaps they fall in love with someone other than Sarr which is cool.  But I hope like h3ll they maximize moving the pick.  I remain skeptical.  

[kg01]

3 minutes ago, theheroatl said:

Hawks taking Edey at #1 would be all time stupid and they would get booed and blasted from every corner of the earth..

Whoever takes him at #17 will probably be happy stashing him in the G League

Eh, trade Capela for a late 1st to take Edey's ice cream? 

[AHF]

5 minutes ago, marco102 said:

Also address the outlandish comments from the Edey side of things as well. 

I need receipts where Supes promised he was done talking about Edey. 

[NBASupes]

17 minutes ago, theheroatl said:

Hawks taking Edey at #1 would be all time stupid and they would get booed and blasted from every corner of the earth..

Whoever takes him at #17 will probably be happy stashing him in the G League

[]

I don't have no issue with you being high or low on Edey. That's your personal take. Don't be mad if we don't agree on the prospects you like. 

You could just post reasons why he would be heading straight to the Gleague but you know it would be easily debunked by most who value Edey here. 

[Jody23]

I could be wrong, but the talk about interest in Edey could indicate Tony Ressler influence.  We've seen the Hawks trade down in a draft because he preferred a college star over an international player.

[marco102]

22 minutes ago, AHF said:

I need receipts where Supes promised he was done talking about Edey. 

We both have our hopes and dreams.

I wasn't addressing the part of the post where he was saying that KB21 said he wouldn't discuss Edey. I was addressing the other part of the post. 

Edited May 20 by marco102

[Final_quest]

14 minutes ago, Jody23 said:

I could be wrong, but the talk about interest in Edey could indicate Tony Ressler influence.  We've seen the Hawks trade down in a draft because he preferred a college star over an international player.

We have one poster talking about their interest in Edey (talking a lot).  I have yet to hear any serious interest from the Hawks.  

[thecampster]

1 hour ago, AHF said:

This is true.

This is generally true but the idea that the best player in the draft is never so slept on that they might have a draft range in the mid first or even second round has been false multiple times in past drafts.

The 2014 draft is probably the poster child because Nikola Jokic was a second rounder and was the clearly the best player in his draft by a MASSIVE gap.

 

But there are plenty of others, too. 

In 1999, you could make a good case for Manu being the best player taken at #57 (or Marion taken at #9).

You could make the case for Turk #16 or Redd #43 being the best player in the 2000 class.

You can make the case that the best players in the 2006 draft were projected in the late first to second round (Kyle Lowry #24 and Paul Millsap #47). (You could also make a case for Aldridge but it is at least a conversation about who had the best career, imo.)

In the 2011 draft, the best player was either post-lottery (Kawhi) or right before the second round (Butler) which is a similar range to what you are talking about.  (I think both of those guys have significantly better careers than Kyrie but I'll acknowledge that people may differ on this one.)

The 2013 draft was very similar with the best two players post-lottery (Giannis) and right before the second round (Gobert).

The two best players from the 2016 draft were late lottery (Sabonis) and near second round (Siakam).

 

In short, the scouts and talent evaluators sometimes miss on the best players in a draft class and the best player(s) sometimes go much later than the high lottery.  (Generally this is not the case but it is often enough especially in drafts that lack an obvious superstar that I think we should acknowledge this reality.)

 

Look at you spitting facts like a camel.

[JayBirdHawk]

3 hours ago, marco102 said:

The Hawks do have a draft pick next year as long as Sac is not the 10th worst team. 

Kings pick is protected 1-12 in 2025, 1-10 in 2026.

[bird_dirt]

15 hours ago, Sothron said:

Yes, it is the first one of us has mentioned it on here. We've talked about it privately. I think trading the pick would be a disaster PR move and it would be more about Ressler saving money by not having to pay the #1 pick salary scale. 

If they trade the first pick they will get absolutely raked across the coals. 
It would be like trading Luka for Trae + a pick Part 2. That wasn’t even that terrible but people are STILL bitching about that trade, and rightfully so. 
 

Taking the consensus best player available and them not working out is a much more forgivable offense than missing out on the best pick available for a package of lesser assets and unrealized potential. The upside of trading down doesn’t outweigh the risk of keeping the pick IMO. 

[AHF]

18 minutes ago, marco102 said:

We both have our hopes and dreams.

I wasn't addressing the part of the post where he was saying that KB21 said he wouldn't discuss Edey. 

That is the part @thecampster jokingly called a lie.

[Jody23]

https://clutchpoints.com/nba-draft-2024-big-board-2-0-top-100-prospects-bronny-james-zach-edey-post-combine

"Edey, a two-time National Player of the Year at Purdue, is one of the biggest unknowns heading into June's draft. While Edey possesses the size and finishing abilities on the interior to be a serviceable big man, there have been many question marks about his motor and his impact outside of the paint. At the NBA Draft Combine, Edey raised eyebrows with his shooting techniques from the perimeter as well as his effort in the speed and agility testing. Still, there are disagreements between NBA personnel as to whether the 7-foot-4 center will be a sure-thing lottery pick or if he will fall to the end of the first round."

[theheroatl]

1 minute ago, Jody23 said:

https://clutchpoints.com/nba-draft-2024-big-board-2-0-top-100-prospects-bronny-james-zach-edey-post-combine

"Edey, a two-time National Player of the Year at Purdue, is one of the biggest unknowns heading into June's draft. While Edey possesses the size and finishing abilities on the interior to be a serviceable big man, there have been many question marks about his motor and his impact outside of the paint. At the NBA Draft Combine, Edey raised eyebrows with his shooting techniques from the perimeter as well as his effort in the speed and agility testing. Still, there are disagreements between NBA personnel as to whether the 7-foot-4 center will be a sure-thing lottery pick or if he will fall to the end of the first round."

Will teams really want Edey drifting out to the 3 point line like the modern day centers do?

 

We already know the answer to that.

It’s one thing to have Al Horford or KAT out there, it’s another to have Yao Ming out there

Edited May 20 by theheroatl

[AHF]

Just now, theheroatl said:

Will teams really want Edey drifting out to the 3 point line like the modern day centers do?

 

We already know the answer to that.

 

Depends on how effective he is taking the shot, the rest of the roster, and how effective he proves with his back to the basket in the NBA.  Embiid and Jokic take it and they are great near the basket.

[bird_dirt]

Just now, Jody23 said:

https://clutchpoints.com/nba-draft-2024-big-board-2-0-top-100-prospects-bronny-james-zach-edey-post-combine

"Edey, a two-time National Player of the Year at Purdue, is one of the biggest unknowns heading into June's draft. While Edey possesses the size and finishing abilities on the interior to be a serviceable big man, there have been many question marks about his motor and his impact outside of the paint. At the NBA Draft Combine, Edey raised eyebrows with his shooting techniques from the perimeter as well as his effort in the speed and agility testing. Still, there are disagreements between NBA personnel as to whether the 7-foot-4 center will be a sure-thing lottery pick or if he will fall to the end of the first round."

It’s crazy that anyone can consider him an unknown. There’s more film on him than 90% of the rest of the players in the draft. 
And I don’t think there’s any questions about his motor at all. 
The only questions are if his skill set fits the schemes teams want to play. He’s a good, reliable player, but he’s not for everyone. 

[theheroatl]

1 minute ago, AHF said:

Depends on how effective he is taking the shot, the rest of the roster, and how effective he proves with his back to the basket in the NBA.  Embiid and Jokic take it and they are great near the basket.

Sorry I meant defensively, especially if he is a switch bait target

Edited May 20 by theheroatl

[theheroatl]

1 minute ago, bird_dirt said:

It’s crazy that anyone can consider him an unknown. There’s more film on him than 90% of the rest of the players in the draft. 
And I don’t think there’s any questions about his motor at all. 
The only questions are if his skill set fits the schemes teams want to play. He’s a good, reliable player, but he’s not for everyone. 

He might even be a good post fit next to Sarr.. But which is more valuable in switching and mobile defenses now

[thecampster]

37 minutes ago, marco102 said:

Also address the outlandish comments from the Edey side of things as well. 

I have, he didn't push back and so I let it go.  Remember, my stance is pro Edey but its not "all in Edey".  I'm not ride or die but because I think we're overvaluing the entire draft class.

If Sarr was in the same class with Trae, Bamba, Doncic, Ayton, etc...he might not have gone top 10.  Same thing with the Hunter/Reddish class and there have been multiple busts in the lottery in both classes.  So I'm not going to get all bent out of shape excited for a player who in other draft years is a solid 12.

In years with 8 players with high floors, I go for highest ceiling of those 8 players.  In years with low floors even for the top 10 picks, I go for highest floor or trade down. I've advocated for both here.  I think the floor of the players being advertised in the top 10 are all low enough not to warrant picking them at all and committing that salary to them. You commit 5-10 million a year to a rookie, you want him to be playable. I can't guarantee I can play any of them real minutes.  This year, I can't play Sarr over JJ, OO, CC or even Bruno and expect to win.  Sarr this year doesn't potentially move the needle. You go Sarr, you're going full rebuild. You are 8 million from the tax but you finished in the lottery. The player you get has to be able to play and beat out what you currently have. Very few in this draft can.  The best bet to play out of the box (IMHO) as a big in this draft are Edey and Clingan. They can get rotation minutes out of the box and not kill your team's chances of winning. I can't say the same about Sarr.

Edey is 75 lbs bigger than Sarr, 5 inches taller

Clingan is 58 lbs bigger than Sarr, 2 inches taller

OO and Bruno are 16lbs heavier, Clint 32 lbs heavier.

 

Sarr is not guarding any of the big 5's consistently.  So if you're drafting him right now, you're drafting him as a 3. Are you playing him over JJ, over Hunter....not today you aren't.

We got in trouble against 2 types of players consistently the last 2 years.  1) big centers and 2) big/big scoring PGs.  Sarr fixes neither of those. He's tall at 6'11" but he's lighter than most PFs, forget centers.

I'm not calling Edey the next coming of Wilt and I distance myself quickly from those statements but in a world where a PF/C prospect who scored 9.4 ppg and is 30 lbs undersized at least is being considered with the first pick, I'll go with the known commodity who can contribute now.

We are up against the LT and can afford to drop $10 million/year on a player who may not be able to play in the rotation.

[KB21]

Sarr’s switch ability and mobility helps immediately on defense.  You don’t fix any defensive issues with the other choice.  
 

The draft should never be about what impact you make now.