Former Purdue star Zach Edey figuring out how to pick his spots with Grizzlies

This story has been updated to add information.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Even in the NBA where some of the biggest, strongest and most freakishly athletic humans to ever walk the Earth have made their name, Zach Edey still finds himself around people who have never seen anything like him. Or at least never played with anyone like him.

The 7-4, 300-pound former Purdue superstar would stand out as particularly large in any era in the league's history, but he is particularly anomalous in this one when teams have largely moved on from wide-bodied big men who camp out on the low block and destroy smaller opponents in post-ups to longer and leaner types who play in space and step out and shoot 3s. Edey has already found the new spaced-out style to be so prevalent that even many of his veteran teammates with the Memphis Grizzlies -- who took him No. 9 overall in this year's draft -- don't know how exactly to pass him the ball.

"It's just an adjustment," Edey said just after noon Monday at the Grizzlies' shootaround at Gainbridge Fieldhouse before their 7 p.m. exhibition against the Pacers in his first return to Indiana as a pro. "Obviously I think people on this team haven't really played with a post-up center. People don't really realize a post feed is a skill. It's a different type of pass. You have to freeze hands (of defenders), get it active, get it in. It's a tough thing to do. People are getting adjusted, getting their minds into looking for me down low. It's just game-by-game-by-game getting better. ... There are some guys who have played with back-to-the-basket centers and they know how to do it. But there are some guys who in their life have never really played with a big center. That's not crazy to say."

Edey has to adjust his game as well. Though the Grizzlies will create opportunities for him to post-up in their offense, he's not going to be far-and-away the No. 1 option like he was at Purdue where he averaged 25.2 points per game as a senior with an average of 13.8 field goal attempts and 11.2 free throw attempts en route to winning consensus national player of the year honors for the second straight season.

The Grizzlies were devastated by injuries last season including a shoulder injury to All-Star point guard Ja Morant that ended his season after just nine games and an ankle injury that held Richmond, Ind., native and former Seton Catholic star Desmond Bane to just 42 games. Morant, Bane and others are back and the Grizzlies have reason to believe they have enough firepower to go back to being a 50-plus win team as they were in 2022-23 and 2021-22, so that means Edey will have to do more than camp out on the low block. He's working on getting more effective in ball screen actions, but he's also figuring out what to do when he's being asked to stay out of the way.

Zach Edey news: Why Purdue center Zach Edey? Grizzlies GM explains first-round NBA draft choice

"That's a big adjustment," Edey said. "At Purdue I would always run straight to the rim, get good position and call for the ball, whereas here, sometimes I gotta space to the perimeter. Sometimes I gotta do other things. I might be clogging the paint a little bit if I just run to the paint. It's just finding my spots in transition and finding my spots where I can get down low and get that ball."

So far in preseason anyway, he's been effective. In 20.7 minutes per game of preseason work he's averaging 10.3 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game. Though there was concern about his defense entering the league, especially when taking on opponents' ball-screen actions, he's been effective when sitting back in drop coverage and forcing opponents to shoot long 2-pointers over him. He's started all three preseason games with All-Star Jaren Jackson Jr. on the bench with an injury, and Edey's coming off a performance in a win over the Bulls on Saturday in which he posted 15 points, eight rebounds, four assists and three blocks.

Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins said he's thrilled with what he's seen from Edey so far.

"He's a great learner," Jenkins said in his pre-game press conference. "That's one of the things that's jumped out to me. He's obviously ultra-competitive. He's finding his footing right now. Obviously he's a unique individual, has a unique basketball skill set for sure which was on full display at Purdue. ... We've challenged him to kind of expand his game, play a lot faster, play at a different tempo, be a little bit more versatile. He's a guy that needs to dominate inside the paint whether that's on post-ups, duck-ins or pick-and-roll, screening game, playing behind the defense in the dunker (spot). Building that chemistry with our guys in the drive attack. He's a big-time threat at the rim for us and also a guy that can be comfortable playing on the perimeter a little bit more depending on what the situation dictates."

He's taken clear steps already toward at least being a rotation player for the Grizzlies, but he's keeping his goals for the moment simple.

"Just game-by-game, getting more confident in the offense," Edey said. "Just finding my rhythm, finding my flow, finding out how to assert myself in the offense. That's my big thing."

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Former Purdue star Zach Edey figuring out how to pick his spots with Grizzlies