Should the Toronto Raptors draft Canadian big man Zach Edey if he’s available at 19th-overall?

Should the Toronto Raptors draft Canadian big man Zach Edey if he’s available at 19th-overall?

on your Monday episode of Locked on Raptors he’s huge he’s Canadian but is he a good Prospect we peel back the many layers of the Zach e onion coming up thanks for hanging you are locked on Raptors your daily Toronto Raptors podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every [Music] day hey what’s going on and welcome to another episode of Locked on Raptors part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day it is Monday June the 10th and I’m your host Sean Woodley I’ve been covering the Toronto Raptors now for 10 seasons on various platforms you can find all my work over on the hell website at Woodley Sean you can find the show on Instagram at lockon Raptors and of course you can join us in the lockon Raptors Discord server the link is in the description of the podcast a great place to come hang out talk about fake trades talk about the draft talk about the offseason the finals etc etc it’s all going on in there a great place to come hang out uh and become part of our 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faster post your job for free at linkedin.com loock innba that’s linkedin.com locked on NBA to post your job for free terms and conditions apply all all right on today’s show we’ve mostly been kind of tackling draft prospects three to time you know taking 10 minutes to kind of dive into each guy the strengths the weaknesses the potential fit with the Raptors but I wanted to take Today’s Show to focus on one very enormous guy who is of course Zack Edy the 7 foot4 Canadian the two-time defending uh player of the year in college basketball down in the states uh really really excellent basketball player uh for Purdue has Zack Ed been for the last four seasons and he’s a polarizing prospect there are a lot of schools of thought on Ed a lot of you know belief that he’s going to be like a starter level player seems to be a lot of belief that he’s going to be kind of a bust he’s probably going to end up somewhere in the middle as is usually the case with these things uh but just because of his physical profile because of his sort of uniqueness as a player I I think it is really difficult to kind of parse what his college dominance in production means for what his NBA projectability is going to be so we’re going to try to do that today we’re gonna dig into the reasons why Zack Ed might be good the reasons why Zack Ed might struggle to adapt to the NBA and ultimately get into whether or not the Raptors would be justified in taking Zack Ed with the 19th overall pick I can’t imagine he’s going to be there at 31 but that you know stands for that as well I suppose too is he a guy worth taking for the Raptors when it comes to the fit when it comes to the upside etc etc we’ll get into all that let’s start off with the reasons why Zack Ed could be very good number one uh haven’t mentioned it before have I uh he’s huge he’s a really big guy he’s 7 foot4 he’s 300 PBS he’s got a standing reach of like 9 foot7 he’s got uh a wingspan of 710 and a half he’s 74 300b without shoes per his combine measurements he is simply put one of the biggest human beings in the world and certainly one of the biggest human beings playing basketball right now let alone at the at the high level he’s just enormous and historically being enormous pretty helpful for being a good NBA basketball player you’re just a lot closer to the rim man it’s that simple um I think when you look at the main strengths of zachi you know just kind of run through the college statline first I suppose 25.2 a game 12.2 boards uh to go along with two assists and 2.2 blocks a game this past season for Purdue played 32 minutes played all 39 games Purdue started them all uh it’s been a Workhorse the last couple Seasons 32 minutes a piece for the last 32 minutes a game a piece for the last two seasons um you know his second to last college season 2213 uh one and a half assists very similar statistical profile again he’s the two-time reigning college player of the year down in the states he is a very very good basketball player or has been at Purdue we’ll see about the NBA the things that should translate well to the NBA I mean he’s got a lot of touch for a guy as enormous as Zach Edy is he has a ton of touch as an interior scorer shot well over 75% on rim shots in his college season this past year um and you know when you throw it into him just the the ease of just kind of getting to a quick post move and putting up a little hook shot that’s just kind of his bag he can do it with both hands Lefty righty he’s got drop steps he’s got the you know the typical sort of bullying hook shot sort of profile to him there’s not a ton going on as far as an array of moves but do you need a massive bag when you’re seven foot4 Zack Ed’s play suggests you know maybe not it’s not that he doesn’t have any bag right like he’s got post moves he’s got counters he’s got things he can go to but he’s not this guy who’s Hakeem elijuan in the post where he’s sort of keeping you on your toes with all the different array of post moves he can throw at you no he’s basically got like a few things he’s really good at and because he’s enormous and because he has a nice DEA touch the ball goes in for him quite a bit he shot 62% on two-point shots this past season and over the course of his four seasons in college average deed about 62% on twos as well you’ll take that you’ll love that shot 62% overall uh as a college player as you’ll note doesn’t take threes took two threes his entire college career was one of two this past season we’ll get into that a little bit uh wouldn’t be banking on the three-point shot necessarily but we’ll talk about that coming up in the reasons why he might struggle um you know to me a couple of the things really pop off W with Zack Ed when you watch him just a massive massive rebounding Hub unto himself defensively offensively when you’re seven foot4 and you’re close to the rim you’re just going to have first right of refusal when balls come to you more often than not and Zack ad is damn good at scooping them up uh this past season in college pretty impressive numbers as far as rebounding go um overall 25 .5 defensive rebounding percentage which is actually his lowest of the last three seasons but still very very very high uh offensive rebounding rate 18.1% which is below his Heights of 21 near 22% in his second season at college or sorry second to last season at college but still 18% offensive rebounding rate ridiculous that’s like compared to most guys no one’s ever going to sniff that in their careers for the most part college or NBA he’s just damn good at collecting offensive rebounds uh you know and as the league skews more towards kind of the Renaissance of offensive rebounding that we kind of saw start arguably with the Raptors back in like 201920 we saw it with Memphis Grizzlies really around that time as well um teams are prioritizing offensive boards a little bit more it’s easy buckets right you get an offensive board you are in Prime position to score an easy bucket and as defenses get more sophisticated as The Possession game becomes more important offensive rebounding feels like a thing that’s kind of back in Vogue and that could be something that sees Zack Ed valued by a lot of teams I think for example of the Memphis Grizzlies who pick number nine right like you know we’ll get into the reasons why that might be kind of Rich for Zach Eed to go at number nine but if you’re looking to kind of lean into your identity as an offensive rebounding hunting team Zack Ed can really help you do that 4.6 offensive rebounds game this past season for Purdue he gets some and of course he finishes around the rim really beautifully and so if he’s getting an offensive rebound he’s probably scoring on it that can be a bit of a cheat code and it also can be something that helps him counteract the sort of slow and you know lack of athleticism sort of tags that he has you know if you’re not having to sort of track back off of Misses on defense and instead you’re you know tracking back after aake way better chance that Ed can go get set in the defense not have to worry about kind of sprinting up and down and getting behind the play um if you’re just finishing off a bunch of possessions with offensive boards and putbacks the durability is real right he played 30 plus minutes T night doesn’t really miss games doesn’t seem to get all that much in the way of hurt or anything like that it’s uh it’s a pretty impressive thing from Zach Ed in that regard you know I think you kind of put that in STK contrast with say Donovan kingan for example who’s projected to go much higher in the draft the the big from Yukon and he’s you know kind of got the durability or the sort of the stamina question mark right of can he play more than 20 minutes tonight he didn’t really do that in college Zack Edy no such issue just absolutely ate up minutes for Pur do as their best player that’s super valuable I also think screening just like a massive massive screener you watch Zack Ed he’s not doing these sort of fake dainty screens where guy’s slipping over and you’re not making contact no when Zach Edy hits you with a screen you know you’ve been hit by a 7 foot4 300 pound dude with a screen and that has a lot of value right we’ve seen the value of yaka P’s excellent screening and the the sort of downside of not having it over the last year or so with him on or off the team it’s a it’s a valuable skill to have and Zack Ed certainly brings that to the table um and I I imagine sort of like a connection with a manual quickly in that pullup three-point shooting situation right where you know you’re getting that extra little moment of space because Zack Ed has walloped your man it’s a valuable thing to have when you have a pullup shooting guard as one of your foundational pieces that’s an interesting thing to think about here honestly like overall I I think you know we’ll get into some of the drawbacks and I do think there are many that kind kind of keep him out of the star tier of of players down the line um but I do think like there’s a long-term NBA player here and Zach Edy because of the sort of situational dominance that he can go and exert with his size with his postgame you know hunting mismatches things like that um you know maybe there’s a little bit more as like a roller involved in in his game you know down the line and a guy who comes to mind for me sort of in this vein is Jonas Fallen chunis who was this sort of dominant postup guy you can’t really run an offense through a dominant postup guy and I think that’s a fair thing you know that was true 10 years ago it’s true now but to have someone like Zack Edy kind of adapt to become more of a role man I think there’s something interesting there we saw that with Valen chunis too right as his time with the Raptors went on they used him a little bit more and more in pick and roll situations with demaro Rosen with Kyle Larry in particular and he was just bloody efficient like one of the best pick and roll finishers in basketball just as this massive impossible to slow down tank of a man barreling towards the rim you could see that being a future here for Ed I really do think the sort of JV comp of you know sealing of like a starter level big man with some matchup dependence in certain instances where he’s going to get played off the floor um but like he’s a nice guy to have on the team and has like a pretty high floor as a player overall I think that’s kind of an interesting comparison for Edy and look Jonas Valen tunus has had himself a hell of a career um maybe he’s never going to be on the floor in high leverage finals moments or anything like that but he’s been a very effective player who helped who’s helped a lot of teams WI a lot of regular season games there’s value in that especially with the 19th overall pick you’re laughing if you get someone who has the career of yonas valent junis we’ll get into some of the reasons why maybe the athleticism and slowness and things like that are a little bit more pronounced with Ed than they are with a guy like Valen chunis the thing that things that could prevent him from being an effective NBA player we’ll do that coming up in just a second here but yeah Zak 80 there’s a lot to like it’s just is it the right to like for this Raptor’s team at this moment we’ll start getting into that coming up in just one sec Today’s Show is brought to you by friends over at eBay Motors passion drive and patience the formula for winning championships is also what keeps your ride or die alive eBay Motors has everything you need to maintain your vehicle and level it up to Peak Performance superchargers roof racks LED headlights exhaust kits and more whether you’re into speed power or style eBay Motors has you covered with over 122 Million Parts for your number one ride or die you’ll always find exactly what you’re looking for and with eBay guaranteed fit your part is guaranteed to fit 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wonderful alternative to the the channels that will yell at you all day long um all right let’s get back to it Zach Edy reasons why it just might not work out for him and number one I think is just like speed floor coverage athleticism you know being 7 foot4 it’s incredible thing um but you know in the NBA it’s not just about size right we’ve talked about like the league skewing bigger and this is very much a reason why you might take Zack having someone who’s seven foot4 to throw out there as the league gets bigger and guys you know who are 72 73 74 become more common place in the league like not a bad thing to have sort of a counter to those types of players but I do think it’s not just about size right it’s about size plus skill and I I think when you look at say Victor wanyama Chad holgren um those types of guys like those guys bring skill with the ball face up ability pull up shooting putting it on the deck making things happen with a live dribble like that stuff I don’t think Zack Ed is ever really going to bring to the table he is pretty lumbering he’s not someone who’s going to go attack a close out and make something happen out of that that’s just not what his game is and I think you have to sort of you know any sort of talk of Zak being a star I I just don’t really see that being a thing in his future because of the lack of sort of Versatility to the things to which he brings skill he’s got touch he’s got that sort of postscoring down but can he sort of expand it out I don’t really think he’s going to be a three-point shooter I know all the sort of hoopla at the combine was oh Zack Edy hit a couple of Threes against chairs he’s got a three-point shot now like no it’s just like not how it works man like I I know the free throw shooting is encouraging he shot 71% from the free throw line throw his college career um on very high volume like the touch stuff from the basket is nice but if you look at his three-point stroke there’s not a whole lot of tape of it right he hit one three in college it was a bank three from the top of the arc um you know there’s just not a whole lot to go on to say like this guy is gonna become a great three-point shooter to tie it back to yonis valent chunis right like Valen chunis was a guy who as his Raptor career went along he started to dabble and taking the odd catch and shoot triple but they always kind of came sort of accidentally to him it was never something they were designing the offense to do and it’s frankly something that defenses were more than okay to live with oh the big bruising post guy who we can’t stop down low is going to take threes fine by us like that is what the defense is thinking when a Jonas Valen chunis takes a three and it’s going to be the exact same thing they’re thinking if Zack Ed’s taking threes you know again you don’t want to put a cap on a guy maybe a guy can figure out over time how to become a three-point shooter it happens sometimes but I do think in this situation we look at the Brook Lopez types and say well anyone can be Brook Lopez like no if everyone could be Brook Lopez everyone would be Brook Lopez but if you look around the league there are not that many players who fit the Brook Lopez archetype and it’s a hard thing to do you can’t go and Chase outliers and say that’s the future for our guy it’s just not realistic it’s no way to build a team if it happens fantastic it’s gravy but you can’t expect gravy when you’re going in with a prospect who has this little three-point shooting tape there’s just not any there and I I think that’s probably something you just got to kind of accept is just not going to be part of his his repertoire then we get into the speed and athletism stuff on defense right like I I think defensively I think my sort of thing with the idea of the Raptors taking a big in this draft has been I want to see scheme versatility I want to see someone out there who can go and switch who can offer something that you don’t quite get from Kelly oin and yako purle someone who’s got a little bit more athleticism and burst and pop you know a guy like Eve Mei from uh Oregon or sorry Baylor is someone who really stands out to me Bale and Oregon need to get New Jersey types they’re too similar um anyway Eve Mei like that that’s a guy who super duper athletic can maybe do a little bit more with the ball in his hands and Zach Ed can has shown some flashes of putting things on the deck um and is just this like athletic switchable um sort of modern big man like that’s the type of guy I think the Raptors got to Target here we’ll get in a little bit to maybe how the Raptors can kind of counteract that or sort of work around that if they were to take Zack Ed in the form of just kind of using yakob purle differently in a way he’s maybe actually been kind of okay with we’ll do that coming up later on but overall like Zack Ed is a drop big he’s not going to be doing much else other than that he just does not have the foot speed to cover ground you know obviously he’s enormous and having a 710 and a half wingspan and being 7 foot4 does a lot for you as far as just like getting from point A to point B your strides are Godzilla strides they’re going to get you places faster than a smaller player but the sort of instant reading react defense you have to play in the NBA I think there’s a real chance that if you start bringing him closer or further away from the basket you’re just going to get bludgeon on the back end as he can’t rotate back and protect the rim that said like Rim deterrence is a real thing and you know Zack 0 just being seven foot4 with a standing reach that nearly brings him to the rim is probably going to have a sort of at the very least like a psychological effect on opposing teams like there’s some interesting stuff to work with there um but overall like you’re drafting him to play as a drop big man you kind of have to build your defense around being a drop big man if you think zachie is gonna be a big part of your team and you got to work from there um you know and look drop defense is fine right plenty of teams play a drop and it’s successful but I think if you are kind of hamstrung by the big men you have to only being able to play Drop defense like that is where things get tricky right in the playoffs you want to have switch ability you want to be able to you know kind of change up the scheme possession to possession if you’re playing against a team for example in the playoffs and they have seven games to figure you out you’re only throwing one defense out there because you can only throw one defense out there that’s eventually going to be a wound that gets picked up to the point that it ruins you and is probably your downfall and so I I don’t think Ed brings a ton of scheme versatility right and look there’re going to be comps to Rudy gobear and Walker Kesler and eventually Donovan klling and surley of oh well if you’re just like enormous and this big rim protector like you can survive but the thing is like with the Rudy gobear comparison for example that dude is a super fluid athlete for someone who is that size he is obviously a lot trimmer and leaner and bouncier than Zach Edy is at 300 pounds right like there’s just it’s a totally different ball game Rudy goar as much as people like to pretend he’s not a good defensive player those people are idiots like yeah sometimes Luca donic will score a three over him in in an ISO situation guess what that happens to everybody uh Rudy goar if you look at the numbers if you just watch him play basketball he’s one of the better switch defending bigs in the league and I just don’t see that being the case here for Edy and that I think puts a cap on his overall defensive ceiling and frankly probably on how many minutes you can play him and probably sort of pigeon hols him into a backup big role where he’s trying to really make an impact in a shorter amount of minutes against second units where you can kind of hang in a little bit easier on defense um you know I think like for example the pairing with Kelly o Lin could be a little bit tricky that is a slow slow front Court you get out of position at all if you’re chasing your tail a little bit on defense like that is going to be a problem and you’re going to take Zach away from the rim where his length and rim protection deterrence is going to be at the sort of peak value like it’s just going to be really tough to stomach if you cannot you know contain the point of attack if if oen and and Ed are both out there defensively I think that becomes really challenging and I do just kind of worry about a few other things too right like the playmaking is it there for Zach Edy to be this kind of guy who you dump it into and trust that he’s just going to make plays out of the post either read whe whether a Double’s coming or not um and score over single coverage or make the play out of the double if if it’s there and and he has to and I think from his college tape like it’s hard to feel super encouraged about that he averaged two assists to 2.3 turnovers a game at Purdue and when you watch him sort of pass out of the post you look the at the assists he creates out of the post a lot of it is just like very simple oh I’m posting up guy on the strong side comes to help and send the double I make one pass to the guy on the strong side and the three goes up it’s like the sort of number one core tenant of defense is don’t help off the strong side that doesn’t always actually have to apply and there are ways to work around that but generally I don’t think Zach Edy was seeing like the most sophisticated defense in the world when he was at Purdue and just because of the sheer might of being 7 foot4 and 300 lb in the college game he was able to pass over top of guys he was able to kind of go through doubles and score anyway I think it’s a different game at NBA speed with NBA athletes and NBA big men up in his business I also really think that there’s a chance that Zack Edie becomes like lunch for the Fred Van vets of the world he’s very big if you get smaller guards coming in to dig down SWAT balls away like I think that could be a real liability for you and it was in college right he was pretty turnover prone for a guy who got the ball as much as he did look he could have averaged more than 2.3 turnovers a game easily you know it’s not as bad as it could have been um he he’s got the ability to kind of Dodge and score and make those sort of easy simple reads but when things get more difficult in the NBA when it’s guards bearing down on him on those double teams when doubles are coming from different angles and different passes become necessary than this simple straight you know one pass out to the closest shooter that’s I think going to really challenge Zack Ed and and I’m not sure I’ve seen enough in watching him and he’s probably one of the guys I’ve watched the most in this class just by virtue of him being a Canadian playing at Purdue like you see a lot of them right you pop up on TV um you you see plenty of highlights things like that um I’m not sure that the the playmaking is going to hold up for a guy who figures to be a post Hub once you get to the NBA and defenses are just that much more smart about it and so um I I think that’s a real limiting factor this would really necessitate him becoming a much better role man for sure um you know there’s not a whole lot of tape of him being used as like a short roll guy or anything like that maybe that opens up his playmaking a little bit he sees the floor with his face up as opposed to back to the basket and there’s more optionality there that’s kind of a big unknown mystery box as to can he be a short roll guy but you know thinking about the way the Raptors use their bigs you know I I don’t see Zack Ed being someone who you really count on as like a dribble handoff hub because you have to have at least some threat of doing something as a keeper in those dribble handoffs whether it’s pulling up and shooting whether it’s driving it to the basket and on a keeper play and scoring like we saw for example with Jonas Valen chunis back in the day where they really sort of mastered that keeper play I think of that buzzer beater against the bucks for example as sort of the prime example of this I don’t think Edie has the quicks and this is the differentiation between him and a guy like Valen chunis with the five extra inches of height and the extra poundage and all that stuff like just don’t know if he’s Fleet of foot enough to you know be a keeper in dribble handoffs and put the ball on the deck and go and make things happen like it just doesn’t feel like it’s going to be part of his game he’s going to be very one-dimensional I think in the NBA and that Dimension could be fantastic but is it worth it at the 19th pick that’s the real question here it’s a tough one right like he’s he’s got a lot to lot going for him and a lot that just feels maybe not suited to the way the NBA is kind of trending we’re going to get into the idea of the factors taking him at 19 and just how justifiable it may or may not be coming up here in just one second Today’s Show is brought to you by friends over at LinkedIn jobs when you’re hiring for small businesses you want to find a quality candidates who are right for your roles and you want to do that fast because you got to you got other things on your mind right you got a million hats you’re wearing as a small business owner you want to be able to hire efficiently and quickly and get the right people that’s why you got to check out LinkedIn jobs LinkedIn has the tools to help you find the right Professionals for your team f F and for free LinkedIn is not just another job board LinkedIn has a vast network of more than a billion with a B professionals which makes it the best place to hire it gives you access to professionals you can’t find anywhere else LinkedIn does all that while making 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there at 19 maybe even slightly better than 50-50 who knows it all depends on how worried about the concerns and red flags all these other teams are to me at 19 it feels like a bit of a stretch I know I mentioned the yonas Valen chunis comparison I don’t quite think the ceiling of yonas Valen chunis is there for Zack Ed because I just think valent chunis had a few extra things little elements to his game that I’m just not sure Ed is going to be able to get to with his frame and his size and lack of speed um you know look it feels like it’s on the table for the Raptors to take him right he’s Canadian Jonathan watman over at Bacher reports had e Ed to the Raptors at 19 and like a bunch of mocks recently look do I think the mocks that have e going to Toronto are kind of missing the mark a little bit it does feel like just kind of like easy content like oh Zack to the Canadian team easy done I I don’t know if people are really looking at what the Raptors need and sort of baking that into their selection there that said a lot of these mock drafts come through reporting and stuff like that as well and maybe they’re smling that Zack Ed might be the guy for the Raptors of course they’re familiar with him quite obviously from his work with Canada basketball he’s been around obviously Purdue for four years now everyone knows about Zack EDI and look I I think it’s it it would go in line with their whole thing about Canadians right like again I’ve kind of made my thoughts clear on this I don’t think it’s a bad thing to pursue Canadians and use an advantage that you have that might keep guys happier playing here but I also think we can be Discerning about the Canadians the Raptors go and choose there are 30 plus Canadians in the NBA or will be soon like it doesn’t have to be that every single one is good or fits perfectly and must be acquired by the Raptors like they can pick and choose a little bit here because there are so many Canadians around the league and you can just accept when some of them are good fits and some are not I I just ultimately I don’t love the fit with the Kelly yach front court for Zack yti I it just feels a little bit too lumbering it feels too drop dependent it feels like there’s not a lot of scheme versatility there and that is my biggest reason my biggest hangup for not wanting Zaki if the Raptors had more of a sort of switchable um you know more athletic type big who is a bit different than yaka purle or Kelly oin in the mix like I could get on board with it right okay like you have a few different bigs with these sort of Niche skills and they kind of blend together in different ways like I could get on board with Zack Ed being a pick if there was not already kind of a drop dependent big or a light on defense big in this group but there is already in both kello and nckin yaka purle and so I think really the only way you can justify taking Zack Edy and kind of having him be your backup center for the next few years who you eventually hope to groom into the Takeover guy for yaka purle is if you believe that you can use yaka purle in more types of Defense than just straight drop which look history says might actually be a thing I don’t know how much I buy it I don’t know how much you want to go in and sort of you know kind of accept that okay like yaka purles are switch big now but there have been moments where he’s been pretty successful at that throughout his career and I I think a question the Raptors got to ask themselves is can we actually Bank on that being a viable path for us to play defense because if they do think it is then the 8 thing becomes a little bit easier to justify Edy becomes your drop guy and yaka purle someone here you you know he’s going to be your drop guy more more often than not but he’s the one you can bust out more sort of versatile switchy packages with if you want to if you just go through the numbers for yaka purle in his career last season not very good as an isolation Defender and if you go to you know nba.com you go to play type stuff I like to check out the isolation defense I think it’s pretty telling of like guy’s ability individually and guys’s ability to hang on switches right most of the time if yaka ptle is guarding in an isolation situation it’s going to be in a switch where he’s got a guard or a wing on him and he’s trying to stay in front of and for the most part in his career he’s been really successful at that last season not so much he was in the mid 20s mid 20s and far as far as percentile bottom quarter of the league as far as uh an an individual isolation Defender as far as points per possession allowed but for most of his career he’s kind of floated between like the 45th percentile and the 75th percentile he’s kind of been average to kind of good as as an isolation Defender throughout his career and I think one of the things that’s always stood out to me going back to scouting him ahead of the 2016 draft is yaka purle Fleet of foot man the guy can dance a little bit the guy can get on the perimeter and stay in front of guys maybe that wasn’t super omnipresent in his game last season but I also think the Raptor’s defense was just like this rudderless talentless mess last year and I have a hard time evaluating anyone’s individual defense really within that cont TT and so you know maybe they they view more um sort of opportunities to bust out yaka purle as a switch Defender as someone who um can kind of track away from the basket a little more effectively with the idea that okay yak’s away from the basket but Scotty Barnes is still roaming the Baseline as that low heal guy who can rack up the blocks and Steals and protect the rim like maybe that’s something they actually can go to next season I don’t think it’s off the table now yaka purle is not getting any younger he’s tracking closer to 30 do you expect he’s going to maintain that foot speed obvious he’s like 28 like he’s not dead or anything like that he’s doing just fine um I think he should be fine athletically for the next couple Seasons but you know ankle injuries pile up things like that you know who’s to say that yaka purle is always going to be as Fleet of foot as he’s been at his Peak and maybe we’re already on the downside of that the Raptors would have way better sort of internal knowledge of that than we would and I I still think it’s kind of a rich bet to say yaka purle after mostly being a drop big for your entire career you’re actually going to the guy that we bust out scheme versatility vers versatility with I think that’s a lot to ask even if there is some history for him that suggests he’s pretty good at it um or can be pretty good at in the right situations um you know I I I think I mentioned the Ed OIC pairing I I just think that’s going to get cooked on defense I really do um I think that’s a lot to ask for I Think It’s just tough I would rather Eve Mei or khil we here from the Raptors picking at 19 I’d frankly probably rather Kyle Kyle filipowski uh who I just think offers a little bit more ball skill a little bit more long-term projectability than a guy like Edie who I kind of think is just like we know what Ed is going to be in the NBA and as much as I I would love how like it look it would be a cool ass story if it worked out and Zack Ed became like a starting level big for the Toronto Raptors what a success story that would be it would be awesome to root for and if the Raptors do take him of course I’ll be rooting for that to happen because it’s a cool story that would benefit the Toronto Raptors I just think with the big class being what it is with Mei being this super athletic switchable guy Kalo wear obviously very volatile we’ll see how he actually ends up as a player but the ceiling for that guy is three-point shooting modern Rim protecting big those guys are hard to find I think I would rather take those swings than take a swing on Edy who I just think because of his physical profile like it’s it’s at once like a great thing and also a thing that’s going to hold him back right being seven foot4 and as big as he is is what’s going to get him on on an NBA floor it’s also what could be that what it could be the thing that plays him off the floor when things matter most and so it’s tough I I I really struggle with it I want a root fored I just don’t know if the fits there for the Raptors who yes they need big man help but they need different types of big men you need guys who have a little bit more athletic juice to them to offer different types of lineups and comp ation with Scotty Barnes and Kelly o linck having some sort of Rim protection um you know outlet for him to kind of just like back him up a little bit and offer him some support in those second units I think would be massive and Ed can maybe do that part I I just think on offense it gets really tricky unless you are drafting Zach Edy with the idea of this guy is eventually going to be the Hub of our offense we’re going to turn back the clock to 1986 we’re gonna throw the ball in the post and have our guy go to work I don’t think you can really justify Ed being the pck at 19 as much as there might be some upside there the playmaking to me is kind of the the death nail I I just don’t think the playmaking is at a super high level um and you couple that with the defense and and the lack of speed and and mobility and I just feel like Zack Ed might end up being a nice player for some team I think at the very worst he’s like a bobar marianovich level big guy who comes in and just like because of the sheer size and uncomfortableness of the matchup he drives positive winning minutes for second unit but when things really matter and the chips are down I don’t think Zack Ed is someone who’s going to be on the floor in high leverage major games and hey we’ll get a chance to see him in high leverage games potentially this summer at the Olympics we’ll see how it works um and obviously if the Raptors have taken him by then there’ll be extra in invested interest in what Zack 0 does for Team Canada but for now I just think there are going to be other bigs or wings I prefer the Raptors to take at 19 than Ed if he’s there at 31 sure all day happy to take a swing on it it fun and 31 is you know sort of more of the happy fun go-lucky pick the hey let’s just take a swing and see what happens type of pick for me but at 19 I think you got to get someone who’s going to be a rotation player for you who you really can count on to be a member of important minutes and important lineups with the Scotty Barnes Emanuel quickly RJ Barrett team going forward and I just don’t think you can Bank on that with Zach Edy and so at 19 not the pick for me so uh we’ll leave it there for now thank you so much for tuning in thank you for uh messing with the show supporting following subscribing raing reviewing going to YouTube going to the Audio Apps it’s always very very much appreciated and we’ll be back again tomorrow topic TVD probably some draft stuff I got some more draft guys I want to talk about I want to get into Johnny Fury I want to get into pom dader who’s rising up boards and maybe he’s kind of a sexy pick at 19 for the Raptors we’ll get into all that coming up tomorrow and through the rest of the week but in the meantime thanks so much for hanging we’ll talk to you Tuesday another episode of lock down Rapters bye-bye oh nasty air boo e

In Episode 1654, Sean Woodley goes solo to talk about Canadian big man prospect and two-time National Player of the Year at Purdue Zach Edey and whether or not his polarizing game could be a fit with the Raptors — or in the modern NBA in general. Off the top, Sean digs into the reasons why Edey might be a good pro, from his dexterous interiou touch to his incredible rebounding ability and his propensity for setting bone-crunching screens. Next, Sean examines the potential drawbacks to Edey’s game and potential fit in Toronto, from his lack of a credible three-point shot, to his dependence on playing as a dropback, rim-protecting big man and the challenges with scheme versatility Edey might present to any team that drafts him. Plus, does he have the playmaking chops to handle the double teams that NBA teams are sure to send his way when he catches in in the post? Lastly, Sean assesses whether the Raptors would be justified in selecting Edey with the 19th-overall pick, how their usage of Jakob Poeltl could change to adapt to the arrival of Edey, and why ultimately there are other big men prospects who should be available at 19 who better address the Raptors’ long term needs, as fun as an Edey success story in Toronto would be to watch unfold.

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