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Zach Edey +600 to win Rookie of the Year after first Summer League game

Zach Edey, the 7-foot-4 center who was selected ninth-overall in the 2024 NBA Draft by the Memphis Grizzlies, is the new second-favorite to win the 2024/25 Rookie of the Year Award.

Edey is now +600 to win the award as a result of posting 14 points, 15 rebounds and four blocks in his NBA Summer League debut. Plus, he tipped in a rebound from a free throw as time expired to force overtime.

Right after the draft, Edey had been +1200 in the Rookie of the Year market.

The Purdue product won two Naismith Awards and two AP Player of the Year Awards in his four years in college.

In his senior season, Edey averaged 25.2 points, 12.2 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 2.2 blocks per game while only committing 1.9 fouls per game.

He also stepped up in the big moments. He scored at least 20 points in each of his last 16 games at Purdue, which consisted of in-conference matchups and the NCAA Tournament, and his two highest-scoring games as a senior came in the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals and championship game.

Edey has a level of stamina that's rare for a player his size: he went from coming off the bench and playing 14.7 minutes per game as a freshman to hardly coming out of games as a senior, averaging 32 minutes for the season and playing over 37 minutes in each of his team's last four NCAA Tournament games.

The center is joining a Grizzlies team that finished second in a loaded Western Conference in both 2021/22 and 2022/23 before injuries decimated the team's 2023/24 campaign.

The ninth-overall pick - and, as a result, Edey - was the reward for their 27-55 campaign in '23/24, and he projects to come off the bench behind Jaren Jackson Jr.

The rookie big man could form a lethal bench unit alongside some combination of floor-spacers in Vince Williams Jr., Scotty Pippen Jr., and rookie and reigning NCAA Champion Cam Spencer.

If the likes of Ja Morant, Marcus Smart, Desmond Bane and Brandon Clarke can stay healthy this year, there's a good chance Edey will see playoff action as a rookie, and Edey helping his team to a playoff berth would boost his case for this award.

Odds displayed within this article were correct at the time of writing and are subject to change.

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