Who will lead Purdue basketball in scoring? | The case for Fletcher Loyer

As Purdue's Zach Edey heads to Memphis to start his NBA career, he takes 25.2 points a game with him.

Purdue's last game of the season against back to back National Champs UConn highlighted one of the biggest questions for Purdue going into this season.

What happens when Edey isn't around to put the ball in the basket?

Edey was the best player in basketball the last two seasons, and his greatest talent was his ability to score at one of the most efficient clips in NCAA history. Now, Purdue has to answer the question of where the points come this season without Zach Edey.

First and foremost, this is a Braden Smith positive place. If Smith wants to lead Purdue in scoring he will. Hell, if Smith wants to, he'll lead the entire Big Ten in scoring.

And Smith will absolutely have to take on more of a scoring role. He looked more aggressive in early summer practices, both off ball shooting and when attacking the basket and getting to his mid range shot.

But Smith is the premier play maker in college basketball. It might just be that Smith leads the team in scoring because the ball is always in his hand, but it's also possible that Smith will be team's entire focus in trying to shut down Purdue and those teams will play into Smith's greatest strength and allow him to manipulate entire defenses to his whims and find his shooters and bigs around him.

So which one of those pieces could go off the most?

In this summer series, we'll explore the cases for the most likely candidates and a couple dark horses.

We start with Purdue's second highest returning scorer.

Fletcher Loyer is always going to have his skeptics. Part of it is just his frame. Loyer does not look like he should be as good as he is, but he is. He's probably better. There will always be some defensive limitations and he'll struggle against NBA athletes, but his struggles have always been over stated and everyone struggles to score against UConn's guards.

Loyer didn't get nearly enough credit for how much more efficient he got last year. Loyer's counting stats look similar from his freshman to his sophomore season. He actually scored a little less last season by a point, and played a minute less in his second year as starting guard for Painter.

But Loyer's inconsistent shooting his freshman season turned into lava hot shooting for the season in his sophomore.

Loyer shot 44% from three last season after shooting just under 33% his freshman year. The game slowed down for Loyer, his legs got healthy, and even if those phantom ten pounds of muscle don't show up on pictures, there's no denying that Loyer's body was durable and ready for his second season after struggling through a lower leg injury his freshman year that caused his play to dip late in the season.

He's still Purdue's second best mover with or without the ball. He's good at drawing fouls, even if not getting them called, and he's flashed a mid range game that is effective with jump shots and floaters. The more Purdue goes away from an anchored big in the paint, the more the lanes and angles that Loyer is so good at exposing on offense open up for him.

If Vegas is making odds, Loyer is the safest bet to make a jump in scoring after averaging double-digits in his first two seasons. It might be boring to some, but the added athleticism, a non-traditional big lineup, and more shooting around the perimeter might not help anyone more than Loyer.

A lot stayed the same for Loyer, a point worthy of admiration for how ready-made and crafty Loyer was as a freshman. In his first season, Loyer got to the line 97 times and took 181 three-pointers.

Purdue had to rely on freshman Loyer more than sophomore.

Loyer got to the line 101 times as a sophomore, bumping his free throw percentage up to 86% after shooting 80% as a freshman. Loyer actually took 39 less three pointers in his second season, and as previously mentioned, made four more threes on the season because of his improvement shooting.

So if Loyer's production jumps up to his freshmen season while keeping the same efficiency, his point total will go up without needing much else.

But Loyer has plenty of room for improvement inside the arc as well.

Loyer has not gotten the benefit of many whistles, a problem for a player that's giving up weight any time he goes to the hoop. It's a major part of his game, and those lanes and angles will open up without Edey hanging inside every possession and more shooters on the perimeter.

But more importantly, a more experienced Loyer will have more tools and tricks to get the most out of his drives. He was less than 40% from inside the arc last season.

He probably never will be or need to be elite at the rim or in the paint on drives, but even a marginal uptick will mean more points.

But when it is working, and it has in flashes, Loyer has proven unstoppable. Of the guys on the team, it's Loyer with the big point productions. (That and another guy on the inside.)

There's a lot of new talent on the roster. There's a lot of shooting and athleticism.

That doesn't supercede two years of proving that Loyer is Purdue's most decisive player. It hasn't always worked well at the rim, but Loyer's play never lacks conviction. It's how he helped lead a team as a true freshman, never let his feathers get ruffled his sophomore season when Painter brought in another guard, and how he'll make the transition to life without Edey.

There should be more perimeter options that are dangerous both catching and shooting and driving the basket. Trey Kaufman-Renn will be in the post a lot, but it won't be like with Edey where post passes were the first and second act of an offense.

Instead, Smith and a collection of guards will move and threaten off the ball and through screens and with hand offs that get the ball in motion and keep the paint open for attack.

Those are all conditions that Loyer thrive in. The more he plays with players like Myles Colvin and Camden Heide, the more other team's best perimeter defenders with size can guard him.

If anyone benefits most from Purdue's new roster, it's probably Loyer who could be ready to take a major step in production in scoring as the offense looks to his leadership and aggressiveness to surprise people again next season.