An uphill battle for the New Orleans Pelicans just became more steep.
The Memphis Grizzlies are getting the towering Zach Edey back into the lineup for their game against the Pelicans on Thursday night at the Las Vegas Summer League.
Edey, 22, has been out for the team’s last five contests after suffering an ankle injury in the team’s opening game at the Salt Lake City Summer League on July 8.
The No. 9 overall pick in this year’s draft made a stellar first impression for Memphis, tallying 14 points on 7-of-12 from the field, including a final-second tip-in to send the game to overtime, and picked up 15 rebounds and four blocks.
The Toronto native, a 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.
Memphis is currently 3-0 in Las Vegas and their 105.0 points per game are the highest in the league. With a win against the Pelicans, the Grizzlies will move on to the Summer League knockout stages for a chance to take home the title.