Over the past two years, Zach Edey has had no peers in college basketball.
The Purdue big man was as decorated a figure as the sport has seen in decades, putting up gaudy scoring and rebounding numbers, doing so with relative efficiency and becoming the first person to sweep the six major national player of the year awards in consecutive years since Bill Walton in 1972 and 1973.
Physically, he was unlike anyone else he went up against, towering over the competition every time he took the court, even against some of the country’s best and most talented teams.
Life in the NBA figures to be slightly different.
As Edey prepares for the next level, a journey that will begin this week with the 2024 NBA draft, there has been seemingly endless analysis about how his skills, traits and shortcomings translate to the NBA and what it all might mean for his professional future.
As part of that broader evaluation, there have been comparisons made between Edey and current and former NBA players. Player comparisons are a staple of NBA draft coverage, a straightforward and easily understandable way for fans to get a sense of the impact a given prospect can have once they get to the professional ranks.
For Edey, given his sheer size and skill set, it’s a slightly bigger challenge (no pun intended) to draw a parallel, not only to a player in the modern NBA, but across the league’s existence.
With the 2024 NBA draft in Brooklyn beginning Wednesday night, here’s a look at what players Edey has been compared to over the past several weeks and months:
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Given his skill set and his massive height, Edey has primarily been likened to traditional centers with offensive games that don’t stretch terribly far from the paint.
Common comparisons were Jonas Valanciunas of the New Orleans Pelicans and Ivica Zubac of the Los Angeles Clippers. Links were naturally also made to Boban Marjanovic of the Houston Rockets, who, at 7-foot-4, is one of just two active NBA players as tall as Edey (the other being Victor Wembanyama).
Here’s a sampling of NBA players past and present that Edey has been compared to by various outlets:
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From Kevin O’Connor:
“Hard-to-stop interior scorer, not just because of his sheer size but also because of his skill and touch. He does a great job of using his massive frame to seal off positioning and make himself available for interior feeds. He doesn’t have advanced footwork, but his gigantic presence is enhanced by his agility.”
From Jonathan Wasserman:
“Though Edey is significantly taller, he'll have a chance to make a similar impact to that of Valanciunas, who's third in the NBA post-up frequency, and who's valued for his physicality around the basket. Depending on matchups, Edey may be reduced to 10-15 minutes per game if his team faces a center who likes to play away from the basket.”
From Ric Bucher:
“It's that ‘almost obsolete’ that leaves open the possibility of Edey being a size-challenged team's first choice. There are coaches who still appreciate having a formidable screen setter and reliable post scorer on the roster to go to in certain situations. Zaza Pachulia might be Edey's spirit animal. Listed as 6-11 and 270 pounds, he started every game for the 2017 championship-winning Golden State Warriors, two-thirds of his shots coming from within three feet of the rim and primarily serving as a human shield to free the Warriors' shooters. But Pachulia was a second-round pick on his sixth team, and the game's reliance on transition offense and 3-point shooting has ramped up since then.”
From Drew Wolin:
“At minimum, due to his size, strength, and smarts, could definitely carve out a niche in the NBA in spot minutes as a rim protector, and sneaky go-to offensive post presence.”
From an unnamed NBA scout to Michael Scotto:
“People are talking about Edey going in the first round and I’m asking myself if we’re really talking about a situational big man in the first round? Is he going to be a starter? No. Is he going to be a backup every night? Probably not. He’s Boban Marjanovic in my opinion.”
From Kyle Irving:
"Last year, college basketball insider Jon Rothstein coined the idea that ‘Edey is the Yao Ming of college basketball.’ It is hard to draw a comparison more accurate than that. Edey's massive and physically imposing presence is reminiscent of the eight-time NBA All-Star.”
At the 2024 NBA Draft Combine in Chicago, Edey was measured at 7 feet, 3 3/4 inches without shoes. In his final season at Purdue, he was listed by the university at 7-foot-4 and 300 pounds.
Over his four years at Purdue, Edey averaged 18.2 points, 9.6 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game while shooting 62.1% from the field and 70.6% from the free-throw line.
Here’s a year-by-year look at his college production:
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