Zach Edey Would Be a Really Good Role Player for the Sacramento Kings | Locked On Kings

Zach Edey Would Be a Really Good Role Player for the Sacramento Kings | Locked On Kings

happy draft week everybody we’re 48 hours away from the NBA draft round one on Wednesday of course the Sacramento Kings have the 13th overall pick we don’t know what the kings are going to do maybe they’re considering drafting produced our big man Zack eedy they had him in Sacramento recently for a workout and when you talk about polarizing figures this guy is all over the place when it comes to where he’s going to be drafted some guys have him mocked in the lottery some guys have him mocked late first round we don’t know what Zack Ed is going to do where he’s going to go and if his game will translate to the NBA in the way that many are hoping it will however someone who has a pretty good understanding of how Zach has developed and how he’s grown and what he can be as a basketball player is Sam King who covered him all four years at Purdue he joins me right here on lockon Kings you are locked on Kings your daily Sacramento Kings podcast part of the locked on pod cast network your team every day and now ladies and gentlemen it is that time time for another episode of lock on [Applause] Kings hello and welcome to lockon Kings your podcast hub for Sacramento Kings coverage all off seon long today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel make every moment more the playoffs have winded down the sports are stopping to sport the way that we want them to but this summer FanDuel is hooking all customers up with a boost or a bonus daily that’s right there’s something for everybody every day all summer long visit fel.com loock on to get started my name is Matt George I have the privilege of being your host here of Sacramento Sports Anchor and reporter for abc1 news and not long ago I had Zack Ed on my short list of players that I wouldn’t hate seeing the Kings draft at 13 of course I still am of the belief that the Kings should be looking to shop and try and trade the 13th overall pick have not changed my belief on that whatsoever but Zack Ed is intriguing to me I’m gon to share with you my updated thoughts and feelings on the Kings drafting Zack and everything in the last segment of this podcast today because I want to get to my conversation with Sam King right away Sam has covered uh Zack all four years uh uh at Purdue he’s going to provide us with a lot of really interesting and good perspective on who Zach was when he came into the league versus who he is now National Player of the Year coming out of the league and and the success that he’s had of course he’s an older Prospect a true senior coming into Sacramento or excuse me coming into the NBA draft maybe into Sacramento but he’s got the size I mean SE seven foot4 uh you can see elements of his game that probably will translate to the NBA naturally just because of how big he is but there’s also things in the NBA like the speed and his ability to play defense and everything like that that that might be a struggle for him right well Sam King is going to give us an idea of who Zach is as a person of course who he is as a player how he’s seen Zach develop over the years and how that might translate to the NBA I hope you enjoy this conversation what is the vibe like right now around Purdue what is the expectation for Zack and how just excited is boiler maker Nation to see uh Zach make his NBA dreams come true yeah uh I think that you know this guy’s a fan favorite unlike anything I’ve ever seen uh produ had a lot of really good players over the years and and had a great program for for a long time but Zach was a guy that I would go after a game go to the press conference do my you know write up some stories and do some videos podcasts whatever may be and be walking out of the Arena to two and a half hours later and Zach is still out in the arena signing autographs for for fans and he signed every autog took every photo with a fan um for four years and um you know especially as his star power uh continued to rise those autograph requests and picture requests became more and more to the point where it’s almost like it felt like 15,000 people every home game and then you know under at every road game we we wanting to to get a piece of him and he was willing to do that so that’s kind of the human being that he is uh clearly uh you know when you think of recent NBA players from Purdue the most recent one is Jaden Ivy who you know maybe at the time was somebody that Sacramento was looking at at that for spot I think a couple years ago and went with Murray instead but um Jaden Ivy was a when he came to Purdue everybody knew Caleb swanigan before that everybody knew this guy’s going to the NBA it’s just a matter of is he going to be at Purdue for one year two year three years Um Zack Ed came in pretty raw only having played organized basketball for for a couple of years in high school and uh it was kind of like you know we don’t know what we have here’s a guy with a massive body but what do you do with it and Purdue started to refine and um figure out how to use that to best suit Purdue and uh you know over the last two years he’s been the most dominant player in college basketball in in many many years uh probably decades so now it’s a matter of does what he uh can do well translate to the NBA and the Domin and we’ll talk about that too but the domination that that he ended up getting to that dominant level of course his size and his body has something to do with that those things that you just you can’t necessarily measure right he just it’s a god-given gift but he also improved tremendously just as a basketball player and as just understanding The Game and his skills from his freshman year to uh to where he is at now from your perspective how much has he grown what has that Journey been like watching him develop into this NBA capable Talent yeah and I think that uh Purdue coach Matt payner has said this many times Zack Ed wasn’t recruited with the high star rankings or you know everybody telling him how great he was because as a high school player he was averaging two points a game and wasn’t being used a whole lot so it was more of a you know kind of a project and and Purdue had its share of these seven foot plus guys over the years uh nobody quite to Zack Ed’s size but uh he came to Purdue willing to learn and saying hey I don’t honestly know a whole lot about basketball and I trust you to help me become the best player that I can be um that turned out to be a really darn good player obviously but um you know he he is he’s 74 I think he measured at the combine without shoes on he’s a massive human but not only that he’s built he’s not you know some you know he doesn’t have like a Kevin Durant frame he’s got a you know some bulk on him and he’s heavy and that’s the you talk to people who played against him that’s the one thing you hear about why he’s so Unstoppable is when he leans into you you’re kind of at his Mercy you’re not going to stop him from posting up because he’s so strong and so heavy and then he’s he’s just over the years like you said gotten better at learning how to uh go to the left or knowing know where to feel a guy and turn the way that he’s not and get an easy bucket out of and his offense has improved tremendously um to the point where he’s almost Unstoppable which is probably why he’s um you know being looked at so high in the NBA draft uh I think that no matter what you’re going to be able to put him in a game and get use out of him on on the offensive end um but yeah you’re right he just from an understanding of the game that’s where came probably the furthest is um understanding why we’re doing this or what I can do in the situation he became a guy that really got a lot better as a passer uh when he came to Purdue when the ball got thrown into the paint to him previously he never had to pass it because it was like okay we’re throwing the ball in the post to you to go score and at Purdue he had to learn that over time as he became a better player and got double team triple teamed um different Gadget defenses trying to center around him not beating teams how to become a better passer you saw his assist numbers go up you saw also his steel numbers go up you know just the uh savviness as a Defender and getting blocked shots uh he’s a very good uh free throw shooter which he had to become because teams just started to foul him because you’d rather give him two free opportunities from the free throw line than an automatic dunk or a layup every single time so uh he’s grown in a lot of ways and expanded his game probably beyond what we’ve even seen on Game film because you know what the way he was used at Purdue was you’re this Unstoppable 7 foot4 7 foot5 guy in the paint we’re going to throw it to you down low and you’re either going to score you’re going to kick it back out to a guard that’s going to be wide open for a three and we’re going to get uh you know three points that way you mentioned the free throw shooting a huge jump between his sophomore and junior year up from 64% from the free throw line to 73% nearly a 10% increase while shooting almost three free throws more per game that is a tremendous amount of growth just in one season from the foul line which is encouraging considering If he if his game translates to the NBA level and if he’s playing significant minutes at the NBA level with his size and physicality he’s probably going to take a trip or two to the foul line every single game but Sam I know you know this covering basketball they say the modern style of basketball is the guards league right in the NBA it’s a guards League guards are the most important and guards are featured in the days of the traditional big man are over and yet you have Joel embiid and Nicola yic winning MVP after MVP after MVP and you have big men like Zack Edy every year coming into the the draft and people going oh God like with the size and the height it’s just it’s it’s you can almost not pass it up because it’s just these these things you can’t like I said you can’t measure you you just have to if you can have a player with these god-given gifts like you you take that and hope that it works so big men have always been so polarizing Zach size makes it no different but kind of from your read of watching him over the last four years understanding of course there’s a big jump from college to the NBA most players try and make that jump at 19 20 years old Zach’s making it or Z is making it well into his his 20s now and and firmly into kind of more of an NBA body how much of an advantage do you think is that going to give him in transitioning his game into the NBA right away yeah and the thing that I I hear a lot is you know if this is 1995 he’s the number one pick in the draft or whatever and right now he can’t shoot he can’t uh play defense um he’s not fast enough things like that all things that I think at the NBA Combine he kind of proved those people wrong a little bit with this you know with his Sprint and then with his three-point shooting he’s a guy that’s um for years you would go into practice after practice when he’s just messing around and he’ll sit there and hit 10 threes in a row he’ll he’ll shoot 20 threes and hit 14 of them and you’re thinking why don’t you do this in a game and that alludes to back to what I said earlier why would you if you’re that dominant and it’s almost a guaranteed 25 points a night just posting him up um you’re obviously if you’re a smart coach that’s what you’re going to do he did take a couple threes as a senior you know in a couple games that were out of hand did make one of those um wasn’t the you know it banked in it wasn’t like it was a Precision shot but the shot looked good coming out of his hand and he’s got a nice form you know go back to the free throw shooting um it’s not an ugly foul shot it looks clean when it when he uh releases and I think that he’ll surprise some people with the range that he has um or is going to have to have in the NBA now him getting a shot off is not you know the quickest release you’re ever going to see but he’s 7 foot five he’s gonna he’s going to be able to shoot over the top of most people um in that case but you know I also think that um just what he gives you he he can probably go in and give you 10 points playing in the post as an kind of alternative I guess to to a damont sabonis um Everybody remembers around here sabonis from his time with the Pacers and the triple doubles and all the different things he can do that’s not Zack eedy but he’s you know he’s a guy that can score at will probably will be able to against most players in the NBA um even if it’s only playing eight to 10 minutes a nights um but he’s also going to be a guy that’s uh probably got some parts of his game that’s wherever he goes is a place that’s going to see that and say hey we have a lot of different use for for this guy it’s not you’re not going to waste a draft pick in the first round on somebody that you don’t think’s going to come in and help you right away today’s episode of the lockon Kings podcast is brought to you by 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 exhaust kits LED headlights and more whether you’re into speed power or style eBay Motors has got 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 your ride every time or you get your money back because with eBay Motors you’re burning rubber not cash with all the parts you need at the prices you want it’s easy to make your car the MVP and bring home huge wins keep your ride or die alive at ebaymotors.com elgible items only exclusions do apply eBay guaranteed fit only available to us customers what is your perspective on Zach’s ability you think to make an immediate impact in the NBA I know the NBA is a completely different game but someone who is older and more firm in what they do how do you think he can immediately impact any team that he’s on the thing interesting is you mentioned pick 13 and what to do with that I’ve heard his name as high as nine anywhere from 9 to 19 9 to 25 I’ve asked Zack and he said you know what I’ve heard everything there is to hear I don’t really care if somebody picks me it’s because they want me and that’s what makes me encouraged to go to a franchise that is willing to use that pick on me because they see something in me and uh you know there’s a reason that that team is going to draft me so wherever he goes uh remains to be seen and I think the all over the board more than anybody else uh but there are teams I know that are willing to trade up into the the teens if he’s still around you know maybe in that 15 to 18 type range so um he’s gonna go somewhere and it’s going to be relatively High whether he’s a lottery pick or not remains to be seen but um he’s definitely got a use on a lot of GMS in the NBA who I assume are smarter than I am or or you are on this topic um know that he’s got a use somehow in the NBA finally Sam I mean when you’re when you’re looking at it’s it’s always fun to revisit drafts three four or five years after the fact and and talk about that player and what people thought they were going to be to to what they turned into and whether or not they it’s it’s fun to see players that were picked in the 20s that people are going what in the heck were you doing how did that guy fall to 20 and that might be the case with Zack Edy how did this guy fall to 18 when he was clearly one of the best centers in the draft class how do you think in four or five years let’s let’s do four because you covered four years of him at Purdue in four years from now when he’s in his senior season in the NBA if that’s such a thing how do you think we’re going to be talking about him and how do you think people are gon to be talking about him at the NBA level uh I really think that and I don’t cover the NBA so but I watch the NBA um but I think that he’s a guy who will have a you know an extended career and probably be a very good role player for a long time you know he might play a decade in the NBA with without ever being an All-Star anything like that but he’s going to have uh an extended career in the NBA playing for somebody it might be multiple teams um depending on you know every time there’s a coaching change somewhere uh that coach comes in and wants uh their wrong guys and then depending on you know in this case if he’s in Sacramento where Sacramento is and feels like we’ve got a window to win now but we’ve got to make a trade and then some other franchise says we want this guy okay we’re we’re willing to give it up but he’s going to be a guy guy that uh can produce for teams for for quite some time even in a league where it’s more wide openen five out type of uh of offense I think that there’s still a place somewhere for a s foot5 guy who can make free throws can block shots can uh can shoot uh jump shots with consistency and then can just still post up and dominate at will well I’m pretty sure no matter what team takes him all NBA fans period are just going to be watching the draft to find out and where he ends up and he’s going to be watched very closely in summer L I have a feeling maybe it’ll be in Sacramento maybe it’ll be in else elsewhere but if you have any interest in Purdue basketball Sam King is covering it so make sure you check that out and follow that for future prospects that come out of Purdue plus the boiler makers in their run uh to to try for another National Championship Sam thank you so much my friend for joining me here on the podcast I really appreciate your Insight and we’ll uh we’ll see where Zach goes on draft night absolutely thanks for having me on like I said at the top of the show today’s episode of the lockon Kings podcast is brought to you by FanDuel as you can tell I love sports I love them so much that I never want them to stop but the playoffs are over we’re getting fewer games we’re getting no games for NBA basketball thank God we have the WNBA to carry us through the sports just aren’t sporting right now the way that I want them to it’s kind of that weird dead time in summer no disrespect to baseball or the WNBA or anything like that but the fall sports are truly gone we got football coming basketball’s getting closer and closer with every passing day and FanDuel lets me keep the sport going whenever I want all I have to do is open the app and dream up beds anytime that I am in the mood and this summer FanDuel is hooking up all customers with a boost or a bonus daily that’s right there’s something for everyone every day all summer long head over to f.com lockon and start making the most out of your summer FanDuel an official sports betting partner of Major League Baseball big than you is Sam for making time here on draft week to appear on the lock dun Kings podcast and share that that perspective on Zack Ed before I share with you my thoughts on Zach what are yours I want to know has has has your perspective or has your mind at all changed with Zach after hearing that conversation are you Pro drafting him are you against drafting him there’s great Arguments for both sides and let’s let’s hash those out let’s talk about it you can reach me on Twitter at Matt George sack you can email me Matt Georg Sports gmail.com or of course you can leave your thoughts in the YouTube comment section down below Zack Edy still is in a group of players that I would say I would not mind the kings taking him at 13 I would completely prefer the Kings take Zack Edy overtaking a guard unless that guard has wing potential like a jacobe Walter for example that being said I still think if the kings are going to draft a player they need to prioritize Wings because they need to prioritize Wings this offseason period they need more guys with size they don’t necessarily need seven foot4 but hey 69 610 that would be an ideal range maybe 68 that would be an ideal range of of of height for the Sacramento Kings to look for in the position that they need more depth of but look what Sam said there in that conversation that really resonated with me and stood out to me is is he thinks that Zack Edy will translate into a really really solid role player in the NBA for a a long and successful career and if he’s right about that in many ways at 13 I’ll be honest with you that’s exactly what I’m looking for my perspective and maybe it’s a maybe it’s honestly too low but I I’m not looking for a starter at 13 I I’m just I’m not expecting that I’m looking for a impactful role player who hopefully has a chance the maybe not an expectation but has a chance to make a winning impact on the Sacramento Kings immediately right they’re in a win now window that doesn’t mean they can’t draft a player who’s going to be more of a project and a developmental piece like a Ron Holland for example I love him as a wing I love his size and he’s someone that’s probably a little bit more of a project coming out of the g- league ignite so I don’t think the Kings can’t go go that route necessarily but I think they should be looking to add players to their roster that ultimately will help them accomplish their goal right now which is win in a very different difficult Western Conference I think Zack Ed can do that for 10 to 12 minutes a night right I’m not worried about sabon is being on this roster going out and drafting Zack Edy because I’m not looking at Zach Edy as a starting center I’m looking at Zach Edy is a guy who can come in play 10 to 12 minutes a night when damona sabonis is taking a breather he secures rebounds he protects the Rim block shots with his size I know there’s concerns about his perimeter defense and rightfully so because of how big he is and how will he handle a defense stretching him out like I don’t think zachie is a guy you could really ever play against a Milwaukee Bucks team for example with Brook Lopez out on the perimeter but Zach is someone who I could see playing 10 to 12 minutes a night and just filling that role and doing what the Sacramento Kings need on the offensive end getting offensive rebounds and put backs for six points a night if that’s what he does like the Kings could absolutely use that now could they find better at 13 probably some would say hopefully again I still think the king should consider trading the pick instead of of of taking Zack Ed or any rookie at this point in time so Zach is certainly not my first choice there are other players ahead of him that I’d rather take like Tristan D Silva for example but I don’t hate the idea of Zack EDI in Sacramento I do think though Sam shared in that interview that that he knows for a fact that there are teams that will attempt to move up and try and trade uh up in the draft to get Zach if he’s there in the teens range maybe the Kings can take advantage of that with a draft night trade I do think there are going to be suitter for him and if it’s not here in Sacramento I’m very interested and anxious to see where he lands and where he goes so consider me interested in Zack LaVine or excuse me in Zack Edy intrigued by Zack Edy in a lot of would not hate to see him here in a king’s uniform I don’t think it’s going to happen unless the king saw something in the pre-draft workout that was like oh man this is really really good I just think that there are better options out there for the Kings so I would be pretty surprised I think if Zack Ed was the selection at 13 but hey stranger things have happened it’s the draft you never know and ultimately if that’s the guy that you want if he’s your guy at 13 it doesn’t matter what other mocks say it doesn’t matter how early you take him if he’s the guy go out and get him so we’ll see what Monty McNair and the Kings decide uh to do but I’m very interested again if you want to share your thoughts on where you think Edie is going to go or if you think the Kings should consider taking Edie hit me up on Twitter at mad Georg sack email me Matt jports gmail.com leave your thoughts in the YouTube comment section down below tomorrow the day before the draft NBA draft Eve right I’ll share with you my final thoughts predictions what I would want the Kings to do specifically what I want the Kings to do on draft night I have that all for you in kind of a final NBA Draft preview coming tomorrow on the lockdown Kings podcast plus I’ll share with you what I decided to do in our annual locked on mock draft where we the the each host of their show is responsible for their pick and you can either trade the pick or you can make a selection well a little bit of a spoiler alert I’ve been preaching about the Kings trading the pick for so long how could I not make a trade I did come up with a trade I’m actually really really happy with it so I’ll share that with you on tomorrow’s locked on Kings podcast as well and then on Wednesday I’ll be at the golden one Center inside the Kings practice facility watching the draft we’ll talk to Monty McNair after the first round I’ll have a podcast there uh from from the the golden one Center uh after draft night is wrapped up so busy busy week of uh NBA draft action for you here on lockon Kings can’t wait to have you join me all week long until next time my name is Matt George you’ve been listening to the lockon Kings podcast part of the locked on podcast Network [Music]

Matt George is joined by Purdue men’s basketball reporter Sam King, discussing Zach Edey’s college career and how his game will translate to the NBA if the Kings select him with the 13th pick.

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Zach Edey Would Be a Really Good Role Player for the Sacramento Kings
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