Will Zach Edey’s college dominance translate to the NBA? He could find a home as Joel Embiid’s backup.

Expected to be on the board at 16, Edey will be among the Sixers’ intriguing options. The 7-foot-4, 299-pound former Purdue star was a big scorer, adept screener, and voracious rebounder in college.

As a senior, Purdue center Zach Edey averaged 25.2 points, 12.2 rebounds, 2.2 blocks and 2.0 assists while shooting 62.3 % from the field.Read moreBrynn Anderson / AP

by Keith Pompey

Published June 21, 2024, 5:00 a.m. ET

What about Zach Edey?

Would the two-time college player of the year be a good fit for the 76ers?

In need of retooling their roster, the Sixers will have options with the No. 16 pick in next week’s NBA draft. They could select the best available player, select a plug-and-play prospect that fills a position of need, or trade the pick for an established veteran.

Edey, who is expected to be on the board at 16, will be among the Sixers’ intriguing options. The 7-foot-4, 299-pound former Purdue Boilermaker dominated the college game as a great screener who attacked the boards and utilized solid footwork. Edey’s finishing, rim protecting, and size would give the Sixers the towering reserve presence they desperately need. And he’s competitive. The 22-year-old from Toronto would push 2023 MVP Joel Embiid at practice.

Edey is a traditional center, and that’s an endangered species in the NBA. That reality could be responsible for his projection as a mid or late first-round pick in a weak draft. Some league executives think he lacks the mobility to be effective.

While a team will take a chance on him, multiple executives think he could be a reach at 16. Others believe he’s exactly what the Sixers need. They think he’s superior to Philly’s backup center Paul Reed, and better than New York Knicks center Isaiah Hartenstein, who torched the Sixers on the offensive glass in the first round of the playoffs.

Regardless of what happens in the draft, Edey will go down as one of the best players in college hoops history. As a senior, he averaged 25.2 points, 12.2 rebounds, 2.2 blocks, and 2.0 assists while shooting 62.3% from the field, becoming the only player in NCAA history to produce that stat line.

Edey also joined Houston’s Elvin Hayes (1968) as the only players in NCAA history with at least 983 points and 474 rebounds in a single season. What’s more, he became the first player since UCLA’s Bill Walton (1972, 1973) to sweep all six major national player of the year awards for the second straight season.

Edey’s dominance was on full display during this past season’s NCAA Tournament, where he averaged 29.5 points and 14.5 rebounds in six games. Edey’s 37 points in the national championship game loss to Connecticut were the fourth most in title-game history and most since 1978.

That’s just the surface with Edey, who has revealed a few new aspects of his game during the draft process. Despite attempting only one three-pointer in college, he displayed three-point shooting range at last month’s NBA draft combine. Edey made 14 of 25 threes in a drill and placed fifth among participants.

“I’ve always known I can shoot,” he said. “I think people were kind of surprised by what I can do. But I put in the work all year. I put in the work in the summer. As soon as the national championship ended, I took some time off for myself. But I moved down to Chicago and actually trained and worked on it.”

Edey has also tremendously improved his mobility. However, he hasn’t been challenged athletically or with elite length on a regular basis. While Edey is an elite rim protector, he’s not switchable, so he has to be anchored in drop defensive coverage. And if you play in transition, he’s a non-factor.

But Edey’s toughness and physical presence might make him everything the Sixers are looking for in a good backup for Embiid. He’s essentially the same size as former Sixers backup center Boban Marjanović, who stands at 7-4 and 290. Edey is much bigger than Los Angeles Clippers center Ivica Zubac (7-0, 240 lbs) and Houston Rockets backup Steven Adams (6-11, 265).

If he continues to improve his footwork, there’s a belief he could blossom into a starting-level center like Zubac. He could also be a dominant rebounder like Adams.