{"id":82287,"date":"2024-06-21T17:10:38","date_gmt":"2024-06-21T21:10:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=82287"},"modified":"2024-06-21T17:10:38","modified_gmt":"2024-06-21T21:10:38","slug":"former-2x-ncaa-poy-center-still-in-miami-heat-draft-scenarios","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/06\/21\/former-2x-ncaa-poy-center-still-in-miami-heat-draft-scenarios\/","title":{"rendered":"Former 2x NCAA POY Center Still In Miami Heat Draft Scenarios"},"content":{"rendered":"

Miami Heat draft selection talks are intensifying, with former Purdue center\u00a0<\/span>Zach Edey<\/span><\/a>\u00a0back in the conversation again, and\u00a0the 2024 NBA Draft less than a week away.<\/span><\/p>\n

Former 2x NCAA POY Center Still In Miami Heat Draft Scenarios<\/h2>\n

Heat-Edey Draft Talks Rising Again<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Miami Heat draft rumors have recently shifted back to Purdue big man Zach Edey. While March Madness was deep into its run, Miami and Edey’s 2024 NBA draft speculation was high.\u00a0Those talks slowly dwindled as other college players entered the conversation. In recent weeks, links between Miami and other draft prospects, mainly at the guard and wing positions, have become daily news in relation to Miami’s off-season plans<\/a>.<\/p>\n

With next week\u2019s draft approaching, though, Edey and the Miami Heat are again the subject of speculation.<\/p>\n

Edey\u2019s College Highlights<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Zach Edey\u2019s presence at Purdue really began to elevate during the 2022-23 NCAA<\/a> college season, which carried over into this past season when the Purdue Boilermakers made the championship game. Although Purdue fell to the now back-to-back NCAA champions, the UConn Huskies<\/a>, Edey still put up a stellar performance. His size and paint presence intrigued many with this game and his future possibilities as an NBA center.<\/p>\n

However, there was, and maybe still is, hesitancy regarding Edey\u2019s college-to-pro transition capabilities. Towering at 7-foot-4 and weighing 300 pounds, Edey used his size and strength to dominate his opponents in the paint. That dominance, accompanied by his rebounding and rim protection, garnered two consecutive NCAA Player of the Year honors. This exact skill level is something that the Miami Heat could covet in this year’s draft.<\/p>\n

How Miami Can\u00a0Maximize\u00a0Edey\u2019s Talents<\/strong><\/h3>\n

One could argue that the Heat are already solid in their center position. Bam Adebayo<\/a> is a 5x All-Defensive center who just came off one of his most productive seasons offensively on top of his outstanding defensive play. However, Adebayo is also flexible in that he doesn\u2019t always set up shop under the basket. A formidable mid-range shooter and a floor spacer, Adebayo could benefit from having a player such as Edey to back him up. Having Edey pitch himself under the basket would allow Adebayo to roam more and create more space for Miami\u2019s guards and wings. This has the potential of creating more offense for the likes of Jimmy Butler<\/a>, Tyler Herro<\/a>, and Terry Rozier<\/a>. Not to mention, a defensive pairing of Adebayo and Edey would undoubtedly be dominant.<\/p>\n

Edey\u2019s Transition from College To The Pros<\/strong><\/h3>\n

How Edey’s collegiate game and skill will spell out in the NBA has been a topic of conversation. One element working against him is pace and lack of speed. Edey’s stats and paint presence were mostly unmatched during Purdue’s March Madness run. However, it was evident that Edey moved much slower and had limited movement while in position near the basket.<\/p>\n

If there is one element of the NBA game we know today, the pace is fast and seems to quicken each season. Today, many teams make it a point to get up a good shot and score the basket before the shot clock hits the halfway mark. Edey would have to adapt to the speedy and sporadic pace of NBA play in one way or another. His size emulates a more traditional, old-school center from the 80\u2019s and 90\u2019s decades. Edey knows he will have to work on his game and develop his skill level to match his NBA opponents.<\/p>\n

\n

“What wins in college and the NBA are totally different,” Edey said in May at the NBA draft combine. “There are a lot of things I can do that people haven’t seen yet. I was focusing on impacting winning at Purdue and simplifying my game. Every year I’ve taken steps forward and there’s no reason I can’t keep getting better.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Drafting Edey Could Elevate The Heat’s Chances Next Season<\/strong><\/h3>\n

If the Miami Heat draft concludes with Zach Edey as their selection, let the development masterclass of the Heat organization take the reigns from there. Edey could be just the piece to maximize Bam Adebayo and create one of the NBA\u2019s most formidable defensive tandems.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Miami Heat draft selection talks are intensifying, with former Purdue center\u00a0Zach Edey\u00a0back in the conversation again, and\u00a0the 2024 NBA Draft less than a week away. Former 2x NCAA POY Center Still In Miami Heat Draft Scenarios Heat-Edey Draft Talks Rising Again Miami Heat draft rumors have recently shifted back to Purdue big man Zach Edey. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5081,"featured_media":82314,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16,62],"tags":[49040,1010,142,826,98,877,427,1896,4741],"class_list":["post-82287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-heat","category-nba","tag-2024-nba-draft","tag-bam-adebayo","tag-jimmy-butler","tag-march-madness","tag-nba-draft","tag-purdue-boilermakers","tag-terry-rozier","tag-tyler-herro","tag-zach-edey"],"modified_by":"Jacob Stephens, Associate Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82287","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5081"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82287"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82287\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/82314"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}