With lottery picks I think the Blazers need to take players who have a chance at being starters, not guys who are being compared to Boban as someone who can play spot minutes off the bench. I am a no on both Edey and Clingan.
I just see him getting played off the court on defense ... think of all the fun it was watching Enes Kanter get stuck in PnR situations and have no idea how to stop them. I like him a lot as a 2nd round flyer, wouldn't touch him with the GS pick around 13 though. I'm almost always for PBA but getting to the point where I just want to see them pick two guys in the 6'7" to 6'11" range just to mix things up a little bit.
What about Kanter's great rebounding and scoring though? He was a key part of our run when we made it to the WCF. Zack is also going to be a much bigger dfensive presense inside. He can touch the rim without jumping.
This team needs guys that can play both ends of the court ... Edey can't do that. I was cool taking him in the 2nd round but if he's going to go late 1st and they'd have to use the GS pick on him, than that's a hard pass from me.
Does anyone believe that any player who worked out against Zach Edey ever actually tried to guard Shaquille O'Neal?
I could live with Edey at 14, I guess. Especially if we got a young forward at 7 (Holland or Salaun or Williams)... it'll be fascinating to see what happens.
So you are saying he doesn't protect the rim (Defense) or score the ball (nearly 60 FG%). The guy is huge and can play both sides of the court. What he can't do is be left alone trying to guard the 1 & 2 position. Yeah he plays both ends, just not a guy that can guard 1-5. Those are tough to find. By the way Jokic has some of the same flaws and he can't protect the rim even close to what Edey does. I would be just fine taking Edey at 14.
Peek on the Yahoo podcast is very very low on Edey. Called him effectively a sideshow who is too slow footed to do anything of significance in the league. She sees him dominating SL and getting drafted top 20, but feels like he'll be a huge bust in the NBA. She said if Portland uses a lottery pick on Edey, it would be a fireable offense considering the rest of the roster as it stands. I 100% agree with her. Do not draft Edey.
Parish who was picked with the #8 pick back in the 70s or 80s seemed really slow in their Championship days yet he had a nice 14 year career and was only 7'1". I think Edey at worst can be his poor man.