D-Day Quickly Approaching For Purdue’s Edey

We are only one week away from Decision Day for NBA prospects, and none of those decisions is bigger than the one Purdue’s Zach Edey will make.

Will the 7-foot-4 reigning National Player-of-the-Year opt to return to West Lafayette for another season or will he decide the time is right to make the leap into the NBA.

Not too long ago, the decision would’ve been easy for the Toronto native because he would’ve easily been a lottery pick. However, the NBA game has changed a lot regarding post players, and is anything but welcoming to back-to-the-basket post players.

Believe it or not, the best case scenario for Edey is hearing his named called in the second round, but not likely until pick 40-some or beyond. The second round consists of picks Nos. 31-58.

Such a scenario presents quite a dilemma for Edey. You see NBA second-round contracts are not fully guaranteed. If he doesn’t make an NBA roster, he would likely spend his rookie season in the G League or in Europe. That’s not overly appealing to most players, particularly one who dominated the college ranks like Edey did.

If a second-round pick makes an NBA roster, he won’t make any less than the NBA league minimum, which was $953,000 in 2022-23.

What will likely weigh heavily into Edey’s decision as to whether to jump to the NBA or not is the fact that he will make more money playing at Purdue in ’23-24. That’s been made possible by the world of NIL.

Last season even though Edey was on a student visa, he made north of $800,000 thanks to NIL.

If he’s playing for Matt Painter’s Boilermakers this upcoming season, Edey very well could make in the neighborhood of $2 million. Edey’s earning potential will be exceedingly higher than a year ago because his student visa has been reworked.

According to rookieroad.com, Edey is the fifth-highest paid college basketball player male or female currently at $829,000 behind Bronny James ($5.9 million), Hansel Enmanuel ($1.4 million), Angel Reese ($1.4 million) and Shaqri O’Neal ($1 million).

I firmly believe in the coming days Edey will announce he will return to Purdue, and not just for financial reasons.

He can improve his game, which would bolster his NBA stock.

Defensively Edey must prove he can defend on the perimeter, especially the pick-and-pop. Offensively it would help his pro stock if he could show an ability to knock down a mid-range jumper and even an occasional three-pointer.

Will Painter allow his offensive game to expand? That’s a tough one when you consider Edey was practically unstoppable on the blocks.

After all, as a junior he averaged 22.3 points per game and shot 60.7 percent from the floor.

As those numbers will attest, Edey is a lethal offensive weapon in the post. He’s next to impossible to defend because of his size, agility and footwork, plus his 300-plus pound frame helps a lot, too.

If he misses a shot, usually it’s because he was fouled, and he makes teams pay when he goes to the foul line as he hit 73 percent of his free throws as a junior.

Edey runs the floor well for a man his size and he doesn’t get in foul trouble.

In addition, he’s an exceptional rebounder (12.9 rebounds per game in ’22-23).

Without question Edey is the complete package, a generational type talent … at least as far as the college game is concerned.

An announcement that says he’s returning to Purdue would mean he’d be the Preseason National Player-of-the-Year and be the second straight college player-of-the-year to decide to put the NBA on hold after Kentucky’s Oscar Tshiebwe did a year ago.

Edey would cement the Boilermakers as a preseason top-five team and would mean Purdue would return all five of its starters from a team that was ranked No. 1 for what seven weeks last season, won the Big Ten regular season championship by three games, won the Big Ten Tournament (for the second time in school history) and went 29-6.

Another driving force for Edey’s return is the sour taste left in his mouth thanks to his No. 1-seeded Boilermakers losing to Fairleigh Dickinson in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament, becoming just the second top seed to lose to a 16-seed in NCAA history.

If Edey returns, he has a chance to leave Purdue regarded as one of its greatest players of all time, and a repeat performance as National Player-of-the-Year would cement his legacy as one of college hoops’ greatest ever.

Not to mention, Edey would have a chance to once again end Purdue’s Final Four drought, which dates to 1980.

Like I said, since Edey is slotted to be a mid- to late-second round NBA Draft pick who might even go undrafted, the decision on whether to return to Purdue or not seems to be a no-brainer.

It’s hard to imagine Edey being more dominant than he was a year ago, but then again at the same time it’s hard to fathom him not dominating even more.

The thought of him returning will terrify the rest of college basketball.

But as for Boilermaker Nation … it will be all smiles when the Toronto Tower announces “I’ll be back.”

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