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Matt Painter makes housing market analogy about Zach Edey’s NBA future
By Keith Farner
Published:
Matt Painter got a big lift for the 2023-24 season when Zach Edey returned for another season. But will this season boost his NBA Draft stock? The Purdue coach on Tuesday at Big Ten Media Day in Minneapolis discussed Edey’s development and NBA future.
Painter said Edey is on a different learning curve since this is Edey’s 7th year of organized basketball.
“So I think he still is getting better,” Painter said. “He really improved last year his free-throw percentage, his rebounds per minute, his ability to protect the rim. Two years ago he was borderline nonexistent as a rim protector. He might have changed some things, but he wasn’t getting blocks. Last year he got blocks. He changed things. His ball screen defense was good. His motor was better.”
Having confidence as the best player in America is Edey’s next step, Painter said.
As far as the NBA goes, Edey’s already improved on his passing from early in his Purdue career.
“Now he’s a very good passer. He understands things,” Painter said. “He really conceptualizes what’s going on the offensive end of the court. So he can rebound. He can defend, protect the rim. A lot of people want to equate his success needs to be from shooting perimeter shots, and the game is different. It’s not a post-up game in the NBA anymore.”
Still, Edey has to prove it, and the trouble for Edey, Painter said, is there’s not another player to compare with Edey already in the NBA.
“He has to knock down that threshold,” Painter said. “It’s no different than buying a house. There’s just not a lot of comps out there for him. Normally when you buy a house, you find the 5 comps and get to your price. That’s how they kind of gauge that. Well, he doesn’t he have that.”
There’s no Shaquille O’Neal-type in the NBA anymore. But Edey must be more than a player near the basket.
“They just don’t have those type of guys anymore, and it’s going away from it, but I think he has more to him than just a low-post player,” Painter said. “I think he can do other things. I think if somebody gives him a chance, he’ll show that.”
Keith Farner has written about college football for newspapers and web sites since 2005.