At Purdue, Zach Edey collected nicknames that spoke to his size and dominance—“The Big Maple,” “Shaq Edey”—but the broader question surrounding his NBA future remained. When the Memphis Grizzlies selected him in the lottery following back-to-back National Player of the Year campaigns, the debate wasn’t about production. It was about translation.
In an NBA increasingly defined by pace, space, and defensive versatility, would Edey’s throwback skillset translate to winning basketball games? Fortunately for Memphis, early returns from Edey’s rookie and abbreviated sophomore seasons suggest those concerns may be overstated.
Improvement from year 1 to 2
Although his sophomore season has been limited by injuries to 10 full games so far (excluding an 11th game limited to 6 minutes due to a migraine), Edey has demonstrated significant improvement. His per game averages have increased from 9 points and 8 rebounds per game to around 15 points and 12 rebounds per game, while playing about 6 extra minutes. He’s also upped his blocked shots to better than 2 per game.
Using data collected by our team of Data Scouts, we can see that Edey has improved on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball.
| Season | FGA | True Shooting% | Effective FG%+ |
| 2024-2025 | 12.8 | 62.3% | -2.3 |
| 2025-2026 | 15 | 65.8% | 2.1 |
*data shown per 100 possessions
Edey’s role in the offense has grown substantially. He’s taking more shots and scoring with improved efficiency. Net effective field goal percentage measures the difference between a player’s actual versus expected field goal percentage in the context of shot selection. Last year Edey was shooting less efficiently than expected, but this year he is converting at a positive rate.
| Season | Defensive FG % | Minus Contests* | BLK
Percentile |
Fouls* |
| 2024-2025 | 42% | 3.8 | 92 | 1.6 |
| 2025-2026 | 34% | 1.4 | 93 | 0.5 |
*data shown per 100 possessions
His defensive improvement is arguably even more impressive. This year, opponents are only shooting 34% against Edey as the primary defender, placing him in the 84th percentile of all players, compared to 42% last year in the 34th percentile. Despite playing more, Edey also remains an elite shot blocker while registering poor shot contests and fouls at a lower rate.
Edey is Memphis’ best center
Without Edey, Memphis has primarily relied on Jaren Jackson Jr. as its starting center with Jock Landale and Santi Aldama as the backups. So far this season, Edey outpaces them all.
| 2025-2026 | Points Per Chance | PPC
Percentile |
Defensive
FG % |
BLK
Percentile |
| Zach Edey | 1.12 | 80 | 34 | 93 |
| Jaren Jackson Jr. | 1.02 | 37 | 34.8 | 87 |
| Jock Landale | 1.07 | 60 | 41.9 | 36 |
| Santi Aldama | 1.11 | 75 | 39.4 | 50 |
*data shown per 100 possessions
Within the SIS framework, Points Per Chance (PPC) is defined as points scored per opportunity that leads to a result in the same offensive sequence. Offensive sequences involving Edey are scoring at 1.12 PPC this season, which ranks him in the 80th percentile of all players. Landale and Aldama are both above average in the 60th and 75th percentile respectively, while Jackson is below average in the 37th percentile.
Defensively Jackson may be an excellent defender, but Edey still holds a slight edge as a post defender and shot blocker. While Aldama is an average defender, both he and Landale measure far below Edey in our defensive metrics.
What is Edey’s impact on the court
There’s no denying that Edey’s individual stats have improved and compare favorably to Memphis’ other centers, but the real question is whether Edey’s presence on the floor leads to wins.
| 2025-2026 | Off Rating | Def Rating | Offensive Advantages Created+* | Defensive Advantages Prevented+* |
| Edey On Court | 115.9 (16th) | 99.3 (1st) | 2.04 (18th) | 1 (2nd) |
| Edey Off Court | 113.6 (22nd) | 119.1 (26th) | 1.88 (23rd) | 0.68 (25th) |
*data shown per 100 possessions, estimated league rank in ()
Offensive and defensive ratings are defined as points scored or allowed per 100 possessions. With Edey off the court, Memphis has an offensive rating of 113.6 which would rank 22nd in the NBA. When on the court, the Grizzlies have a modest improvement to 115.9, which would rank 16th.
Defensively, the contrast is eye-popping. With Edey on the court to anchor Memphis’ interior defense, the Grizzlies have a defensive rating of 99.3, outperforming the current league-leading Thunder at 106.1. When off the floor, their defensive rating plummets to 119.1, which would rank 26th.
This means that the Grizzlies net efficiency this season improves by a whopping 22.1 points per 100 possessions with Edey in the game!
At SIS, the foundation of basketball data collection is advantage creation, maintenance and prevention. In other words, what do players do on the court to create and prevent high value shots? SIS Data Scouts tag four different advantage levels, and define a big swing as moving two or more levels.
When comparing big offensive advantages created and big defensive advantages prevented, we see similar trends with Edey on and off the court. There is a modest improvement in big advantages created, but defensively Memphis would rank 2nd in big advantages prevented with Edey versus 25th without.
It’s worth reiterating that Edey’s data this season comes from a sample of only 10 full games. However, Memphis is 7-3 in those games and 11-20 otherwise, and its drastic leap in defense with Edey should signal optimism about their outlook. While the Grizzlies are currently battling for a play-in spot, their postseason hopes would undoubtedly see a massive 7’4” boost when Edey returns.
