Pistons Rising Star Links With Grizzlies Rookie Zach Edey

Wednesday's game between the Pistons and the Grizzlies allowed for two former teammates to reunite.

Nov 2, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Memphis Grizzlies center Zach Edey before action against the Philadelphia 76ers at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images / Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

On Wednesday night, the Detroit Pistons took a trip to take on the Memphis Grizzlies. Both teams missed key players due to injury setbacks. For the Pistons, they played without Cade Cunningham, which offered Jaden Ivey another opportunity to hop in the driver’s seat for the Pistons offense.

On the other side, the Grizzlies rolled without their top pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, Zach Edey. Lately, the big man has been dealing with an ankle sprain. As a result, he’s missed a stretch of games, including Wednesday’s blowout victory for Memphis.

Despite not being a part of the action on Wednesday, Edey was around and managed to link up with Pistons rising star, Jaden Ivey. The two former Purdue standouts got a chance to run into each other at the NBA level since their time together in the NCAA.

Boilermakers 🤝 pic.twitter.com/r7fiV0PPSr

— Detroit Pistons (@DetroitPistons) November 28, 2024

Through Ivey’s two seasons in college, he played alongside Edey. During Ivey’s freshman season, he averaged 24 minutes of playing time in 23 games. He produced 11 points, three rebounds, and two assists per game. Meanwhile, Edey saw the court for 15 minutes per game, producing nine points and four rebounds off the bench.

During Ivey’s sophomore effort, he shared the court with Edey as a full-time starter. Ivey put up 17 points per game on his college career-high 46 percent shooting from the field. Edey made 65 percent of his field goals to produce 14 points per game while coming down with eight boards per night.

Ivey’s time at Purdue wrapped up in 2022. He entered the NBA Draft, getting selected by the Pistons fifth overall. Edey stuck around in the NCAA for the next two seasons. The big man wrapped up his college career by averaging 25 points and 12 rebounds in his senior season.

Edey ended up in Memphis after getting selected ninth overall.

Edey and Ivey didn’t get a chance to battle it out in the NBA for the first time this season, leaving an April 5 matchup in Detroit as their first opportunity to make it happen officially.