Zach Edey silenced some doubters in a big way with a strong double-double performance in his Summer League debut, proving he belongs at the NBA level.
The gargantuan centre from Purdue picked up a solid 14 points, 15 rebounds and four blocks in 34 minutes as the Memphis Grizzlies lost to the Utah Jazz 97-95 in overtime at the Salt Lake City Summer League.
It was an important test for the Canadian as he took on a proper NBA centre and a shot-blocking specialist in Walker Kessler.
But Edey wasn’t swayed, as he finished with an efficient 7-for-12 from the field and had some authoritative dunks over the big man.
Despite missing a wide-open put-back dunk in the waning moments that would’ve given the Grizzlies a one-point lead with less than five seconds remaining, he made up for the mistake by tipping in a missed free-throw to tie it up at the buzzer.
He was a fearless force down low and even got himself a technical foul for defending his teammate Jake LaRavia after he got tangled with Jazz guard Brice Sensabaugh under the basket. Edey seemed to purposefully get in his way and bump Sensabaugh as the Jazz player was trying to head back to his end.
Sensabaugh then made a solid business decision, pushing Edey out of the way but not further escalating any tensions with the seven-foot-four wall of a man.
Edey, 22, was drafted ninth overall at the NBA Draft to serve as a replacement for Steven Adams, who was traded to the Houston Rockets ahead of the deadline last season.
The two-time College Player of the Year was a force at Purdue, averaging an absurd 25.2 points, 12.2 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game last season en route to guiding his Boilermakers to their first National Championship game since 1969 where they eventually lost to back-to-back champs UConn.