Zach Edey's NBA career starts tonight as the Memphis Grizzlies summer league team prepares for its first game in Salt Lake City.
The Grizzlies took Edey 9th in the 2024nNBA Draft, surprising some by taking the back to back NBA Player of the Year in the top-ten of the draft. Edey was without a doubt the best player in college basketball the last two seasons, but there are questions about how his back to the basket will translate to the NBA.
Edey will get his first chance to prove himself tonight and will have seven games to get acquainted with his younger teammates as the Grizzlies have decided to participate in the Salt Lake City Summer League games and the NBA 2K25 Summer League in Las Vegas.
How to Watch
Where: Salt Lake City
When: July 8, 9:00 p.m. EST
Who: Utah Jazz vs. Memphis Grizzlies
How to Watch: ESPN and ESPN+
Summer of Grit and Grind
Zach Edey turned down an opportunity to play in the Olympics this year with Team Canada to focus on his NBA career and his transition into the Grizzlies organization.
While the Olympics are a dream to the 7-4 Toronto native, the time commitment during his first summer in the NBA would have made it difficult to get caught up in a new scheme, a new team, and a new league.
Edey's revelation at Purdue wasn't his production on the floor. Instead, it was the work that Edey was willing to put in to go from a barely recruited big man with just two years of organized basketball experienced to the most dominant interior presence in college since Shaquille O'Neal in just three seasons at Purdue.
Edey has used summers in each season to help transform his game and his body. He's gotten more athletic each season, improving on his mobility while making up for the lost time with fundamentals and basics.
Edey has now applied that same work ethic and focus to his first summer as an NBA player, bypassing the Olympics to play in the summer league with a bunch of his younger teammates. His NBA journey starts tonight in Salt Lake City.
