Grizzlies General Manager Explains Why Memphis Liked Zach Edey

The Memphis GM gave insight on one of the more surprising first round picks.

Purdue Boilermakers center Zach Edey (15) attempts a shot during the Men's NCAA national championship game against the Connecticut Huskies / Joe Rondone/The Republic / USA TODAY

One of the few big surprises from the first round of this year's NBA draft came from the Memphis Grizzlies, who selected Purdue All-American Zach Edey with the No. 9 pick. Edey's resume as a college player is impeachable but how his game transitions to the NBA is a very big question mark. So it was a bit shocking to see Edey go in the top-10, and even more so to see him picked by the Grizzlies, a team featuring an up-tempo superstar who can't shoot very well in Ja Morant.

On Wednesday night after it was all said and done, Memphis general manager Zach Kleiman spoke to local media and explained why Edey was the right pick for the team at this juncture.

"It's not easy to build a team that really can not just deal with different types of matchups," Kleiman said, per Damichael Cole of the Commercial Appeal. "But what really appealed to us about Zach, you spend a lot of time trying to figure out how do we match up against this team, how do we match up against that team. Zach is incredibly unique in that you got to deal with him. From a size standpoint, from a physicality standpoint, that's something other teams are going to have to grapple with. We want to have looks to throw out there that give us the advantage."

Regardless of how it plays out at the NBA level, Kleiman is on point with how unique Edey is. Standing at 7-foot-4, the two-time Player of the Year is a basketball giant from the days of yore, when the Mark Eatons and Manute Bols of the world ruled the court. Not many players built like him can survive in the wide-open space of today's fast-pace NBA. But if Edey can— as Kleiman seems to believe— then it is very tricky for opponents to deal with how much of the court he takes up on both ends of the court.

Which, when Kleiman got into specifics, sounds like what the GM is most excited about.

"As a roll threat to the basket, Ja has a way of finding guys," Kleiman said after saying Morant was "thrilled" with the pick. "My God, you've got some size for Ja to find now. That's a pairing that we're really excited about."

Morant's court vision has always been stellar but the Grizzlies have struggled to find the ideal pick-and-roll partner for the high-flying point guard. Jaren Jackson Jr. is a pick-and-pop specialist and Steven Adams wasn't able to do much on that end of the court even before he got hurt. Edey gives Morant a weapon unlike any other, in pretty much every respect possible.

The Grizzlies will pick twice more in this year's draft, at No. 39 and No. 57.