There have been no shortage of bad picks in the history of the NBA draft.
There also has been no shortage of bad takes when it comes to analysts evaluating the NBA draft.
One way or another, there’s going to be another addition to one of those categories — and hoops fans from Canada or Memphis are going to be rooting for the latter.
The Grizzlies shocked more than a few people by selecting Canadian centre Zach Edey out of Purdue at No. 9 overall during the first round of the draft on Wednesday night.
One NBA draft analyst didn’t hold back when talking about the pick.
“This is one of the worst picks I’ve seen in draft history,” Krysten Peek of Yahoo Sports declared in a video posted on X.
That’s a pretty bold statement considering the 7-foot-4 Canadian is coming off two straight NCAA player of the year awards and helped lead the Boilermakers to the championship game.
“I have absolutely no idea how he’s going to fit in the backcourt with Ja Morant,” she said. “He only connected on 8% of his shots off pick-and-rolls. And, defensively, he’s a liability … Teams are going to hunt him in the pick-and-roll.”
Peek also shared that she felt the Grizzlies should have instead targeted forwards Tristan da Silva or Cody Williams with their pick.
ESPN analyst Bob Myers also was shocked by pick, but also saw some upside in the selection.
“This is the most surprising pick so far, for me… I just didn’t see him going this high …,” the former Golden State Warriors general manager said before noting that Edey could be a good fit alongside athletic power forward Jaren Jackson Jr.
Edey isn’t the most mobile big man and the league is moving away from the back-to-basket style of centre that he is. But the Grizzlies clearly feel that he is a player that fits their team, otherwise they wouldn’t have invested such a high pick in him.