Should Purdue’s Zach Edey be a First Round Pick in the 2024 NBA Draft?

By Austin Lawton

With the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament starting on Tuesday, millions of college basketball fans will watch the star players (and their own brackets) as they take the court in search of a championship. But there are other sets of curious eyes—the eyes of scouts and coaches of the NBA game—looking through a different lens at some of the game’s key prospects and wondering how the tournament will improve or hurt their draft stock. 

Players such as Colorado’s Cody Williams, Kentucky guards Reed Sheppard and Rob Dillingham, and Duke forward Kyle Filipowski all seem to be locks to go in the first round of the draft. Most players will not enjoy this luxury. 

Purdue senior phenom, Zach Edey, will have the attention of the NBA scouts as the Boilermakers look to bounce back from their loss to 16-seeded Farleigh Dickinson in last year’s tournament. FDU became only the second 16-seeded team to beat a No.1 seed. With Purdue securing a No.1 seed yet again, the pressure will be on Edey and his team to finally rise to the occasion. 

Edey is arguably the best player in the nation and the reigning Naismith Player of the Year, an award which he will most likely win again. Averaging 24.4 points per game and leading NCAA Division I, Edey is a 61.9% shooter and adds 11.7 rebounds per game. He has dominated the collegiate ranks for the second season in a row and has become the all-time leader in points and rebounds for the Boilermakers, cementing his legacy as one of the greats in black and gold history.

At the start of the season, the 7’4” center was projected to go into the mid-to late second round. Now, Edey is a projected as a late first rounder, with most analysts seeing him headed north to the Milwaukee Bucks, to bring their team much needed depth at center.

But is there true value for NBA teams to pick Edey in the late first round?

A player of Edey’s caliber, historically, does not go in the first round in the modern NBA. NBA brass has devalued the classic center position in recent drafts, unlike twenty years ago in the era of Shaq, David Robinson and Yao Ming. While big men like Nikola Jokic and Joel Embiid are winning MVP’s, players like Edey aren’t seen as key pieces to an NBA roster. The modern center has to be capable of shooting well from beyond the arc (i.e. Jokic, Victor Wembanyama and Karl-Anthony Towns), need to be able to get up and down the court at a reasonable pace and be a capable playmaker.

Edey has only made one three-pointer in his college career and plays more like a center from the 90’s and early 2000’s, dominating down low in the post while getting more than his share of rebounds and blocks. Edey is an efficient shooter from the field and the free throw line, shooting 71.6%. On defense, he is averaging 2.2 blocks, along an impressive 7.1 defensive rebounds and ranks third in Division I in rebounds and 20th in blocks. 

But Edey’s game pace may not meet the standards or the rigors of the professional game. He’s not the fastest player, which will be a detriment to his NBA squad.

Jalen Brunson, Zion Williamson, Obi Toppin, Luka Garza and Oscar Tshiebwe are the last five Naismith winners to go to the NBA but only two were drafted in the first round (Williamson and Toppin, respectively). Brunson went in the second round in 2018, Garza in the second round in 2021, and Tshiebwe went undrafted in 2023. 

Garza, Tshiebwe and Edey are all very similar players. All three dominated the college game, racked up a ton of rebounds, and all averaged a double-double per game. Oh how the game has changed.

A late first round pick can provide great depth and maybe even a starting caliber player but with Edey’s positives and negatives, NBA teams will likely find greater value in him as an early to mid-second round pick. Edey can provide depth to an NBA bench on a winning team or a team on the brink of making a playoff push, but also would excel in the NBA G League on a two-way deal. 

If Purdue can go deep in the NCAA Tournament, Edey could potentially cement himself as an option in the late first round, but for now, it would be a stretch for NBA teams to take the Purdue big man in round one.