Zach Edey is a dominant 7-foot-3 center for the Memphis Grizzlies — a back-to-back national college player of the year at Purdue (Naismith and Wooden Awards, 2023 and 2024) and Purdue's all-time leading scorer and rebounder. Drafted 9th in 2024, the Canadian big man made the 2025 All-Rookie First Team as an efficient interior anchor and rebounder.
Model lines Edey at 13.6 pts (range 10.9–16.3) vs a 13.5 line — roughly a coin flip to clear it (51%).
Model favors Los Angeles Lakers (64%), projected 110–114, ~224 total at 96.5 pace.
A dominant 7-foot-3 center — an interior anchor and rebounder for the Grizzlies.
A back-to-back Wooden and Naismith winner at Purdue, Edey was drafted 9th in 2024.
He is Purdue's all-time leading scorer and rebounder.
He made the 2025 All-Rookie First Team with a franchise rookie rebounding record.
A dominant interior force, he anchors the Grizzlies' frontcourt when healthy.
A dominant 7-foot-3 center — an interior anchor and rebounder for the Grizzlies.
Zach Edey was born in Toronto and only focused on basketball around grade 10, then became one of college basketball's most dominant players at Purdue — a back-to-back Naismith and Wooden national player of the year (2023, 2024) and the program's all-time leading scorer and rebounder. Memphis drafted him 9th in 2024.
A towering 7-foot-3, 305-pound center, he made the 2025 All-Rookie First Team as an efficient interior scorer, elite rebounder, and rim protector, setting a franchise rookie rebounding record. A Canadian who won World Cup bronze, he anchors the Grizzlies' frontcourt when healthy.
Sources: Wikipedia, NBA.com, Basketball-Reference, ESPN.
Edey comes from an athletic family — his mother, herself 6-foot-3 and of Chinese-Canadian heritage, played basketball, and his father played baseball — and grew up on ice hockey and baseball before basketball found him late. He helped Canada win its first-ever World Cup medal (bronze) in 2023, part of a growing wave of Canadian bigs.
His on-court identity is overwhelming size and interior dominance — a 7-foot-3 center who scores efficiently in the paint, rebounds at an elite rate on both ends, and protects the rim, a throwback back-to-the-basket force. His perimeter mobility and foul management are the NBA adjustments, but his size and efficiency give Memphis a genuine interior anchor.
A dominant, efficient interior center — paint scoring, elite rebounding, and rim protection.
Overwhelming interior dominance
Edey's value is size and efficiency — a 7-foot-3, 305-pound center who scores efficiently in the paint (nearly 59% from the field), rebounds at an elite rate on both ends (a franchise rookie record), and protects the rim. That back-to-the-basket dominance gives Memphis a genuine interior anchor and a matchup problem few teams can handle.
The NBA adjustments
The developmental questions are perimeter mobility and foul management in a spacing-driven, switch-heavy league — plus recovery from an ankle injury. But his size, rebounding, and efficiency are legitimately elite; adapting his game to the NBA's pace is the swing skill, and his interior floor is already high for the Grizzlies' frontcourt.
Per game
| Season | GP | MIN | PTS | REB | AST | FG% | 3P% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-26 | 11 | 25.8 | 13.6 | 11.1 | 1.1 | .633 | .200 |
Source: Basketball-Reference.
Where he sits in history
Hardware
A dominant interior center — an efficient anchor and elite rebounder for the Grizzlies.
Edey projects as a high-efficiency interior anchor for Memphis — a 7-foot-3 center with elite rebounding and rim protection. His trajectory depends on recovery from ankle injury and adapting his game to the NBA's perimeter pace; his interior dominance and efficiency give him a high floor.
Contract
A dominant 7-foot-3 center and back-to-back college player of the year — an efficient interior anchor and elite rebounder who gives Memphis a genuine frontcourt force.
Overwhelming interior dominance — a 7-foot-3 center who scores efficiently in the paint, rebounds at an elite rate, and protects the rim; he was a back-to-back Wooden Award winner at Purdue.
Toronto, Canada — he helped Canada win its first-ever World Cup medal (bronze) in 2023.
Perimeter mobility and foul management in a spacing-driven league, plus adapting his back-to-the-basket game to the NBA's pace.