Lakers Among Best Fits for ‘Polarizing’ 7-Foot-4 College Star

Getty Lakers potential draftee Zach Edey (right)

At the 2023 NBA draft, the Lakers had the opportunity to land themselves a polished, ready-to-contribute wing with their pick at No. 17. It was a player they’d had plenty of opportunity to have a look at, too—UCLA senior Jaime Jaquez Jr., who was already 22 years old. But the temptation of point guard Jalen Hood-Schifino’s potential proved too strong, and the Lakers went with the younger (he had just turned 20) Hood-Schifino.

It was the wrong choice, of course. Jaquez proved to be one of the best rookies in the league last year, and would have fit perfectly as the kind of gritty two-way wing the Lakers lacked last season. Hood-Schifino has potential, but the win-now Lakers needed more immediate dividends.

Now, in the 2024 NBA draft, the Lakers likely will face a similar question. They could ultimately trade away their pick, which is again at No. 17. But if they keep it, they could take another swing at young potential, or they could add a polished big man who is a proven, though polarizing, commodity: Purdue star Zach Edey.

Zach Edey Won National Player of the Year in 2023-24

Edey, of course, is well known to hoops fans of every stripe. He is 7-foot-4 and 300 pounds, and averaged 25.2 points, 12.2 rebounds and shot 62.3% from the field in his senior season, as he helped Purdue to the national title game this year. That has earned plenty of fans among coaches and front offices.

But Edey is an old-school, back-to-the-basket, slow-footed center, one who does not shoot 3-pointers. That is exactly the type that has become all but extinct in the modern NBA. That’s why his projections run anywhere from the back end of the lottery, past the Lakers at 17^th and into the 20s or even the early second round.

“I think everyone likes the kid, knows what he can do. But it is hard to see where he is going to grow, where he is going to get better. There are big guys who do not shoot 3s—Mitchell Robinson, Jarrett Allen, (Ivica) Zubac—but that’s not the problem. The mobility is the problem,” a Western Conference scout said of Edey last month.

“You need to be able to get up-and-down the floor. You can’t be an anchor on the fast break, you can’t weigh everything down. And defensively, it is not just running out and guarding 3-pointers. It is playing in space, getting run through screens over and over. It’s just too easy to pick him apart. It’s the old joke, he has the size of a skyscraper and the athleticism of one, too.”

Lakers Could Give Ideal Role for Rookie Big Man

But for a team that can define a very specific role for Edey, he might well be an ideal fit. And that could be the Lakers, where Edey would only have to play in 18-22 minute spurts, mostly behind Anthony Davis at center but perhaps sometimes alongside him when the Lakers need a big lineup.

“He is polarizing because he was the national player of the year but there are so many teams where he would just not be a fit,” one NBA executive told Heavy. “So you look for teams that have a center who can play some 4 and need that depth, and that is where he might make sense.

“The Nuggets are a great fit, he can give you a totally different look behind (Nikola) Jokic. The Heat, they’ve struggled to find their backup for Bam (Adebayo). And the Lakers, that might be the best thing for him as far as a fit goes because you can plug him in behind AD or use them together.”

Again, the Lakers might not even make the pick at No. 17. But if they can’t find a trade that sees them shuffling the pick elsewhere, there is some sense in going with a known commodity this year, and Edey would fit that bill.