As the Grizzlies (finally) get ready to play basketball again after the self-imposed NBA Cup break, yesterday we got a reminder of one of the best parts of the start to this season for Memphis.
Numerous young talented players that entering the 2024-2025 campaign haven’t even played during this stretch of success. There’s GG Jackson, Vince Williams Jr., and not just a big...
But THE big. As in one of the biggest players in the entire NBA, Zach Edey.
While the previously mentioned Jackson and Williams Jr. are more hypothetical fits at this stage due to their lengthy absences, Edey has played a bit this season already before he hurt his ankle several weeks ago.
His numbers are stout for a rookie. Above average among NBA bigs in points per shot attempt, good to great steal, block, and rebound rates. For all the concerns about his fit in the NBA, to this point across a small sample size of 263 minutes played? Things are going well.
But with Brandon Clarke playing at the level he currently is, there is an element of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” at play here as Edey nears a return. Clarke is 12-3 as a starter for Memphis this season, and while he has said in the past starting or off the bench doesn’t matter to him it should matter for the Grizzlies at this point.
Maximizing Jaren Jackson Jr., who is having an All-Star caliber campaign so far this season, and the other Grizzlies starters like Ja Morant and Desmond Bane is the priority. And while both Edey and Clarke have been efficient with this group, Clarke’s numbers overall are better than Edeys in a larger run of minutes played.
There’s another argument for Edey as a reserve - at least as he rounds back in to form over the next few weeks. In the starting unit of Morant/Bane/Jaylen Wells/Jackson Jr./Clarke, there are three players capable of being high usage scorers. Compare that with a potential reserve group of Marcus Smart, Jake LaRavia, Santi Aldama, and Scotty Pippen Jr. alongside Edey.
Part of the point of this new offensive scheme is ball movement and sharing the scoring wealth. But with Edey as a reserve big man, playing more against other reserve bigs, the opportunity to “throw it to the hand” on the low post would be greater. That’s a role that the two-time National Player of the Year is very familiar with.
Combine that with the fact that Edey needs to get back in game shape, and an 18-20 minute off-the-bench role makes sense. That doesn’t belittle Edey’s value to this Grizzlies team, or mean he’s a “bust”. It means that a title contender is competing at a high level, and Edey could be a means to the end of improving reserve scoring when games slow down and get in the proverbial “mud”.
As time goes on, Edey as a starter for this team makes sense. But for now? A 7'4" 290 bench big sounds like a potentially dominant addition to an already really good team.
