Zach Edey, 3-point shooter? The former Purdue big man only attempted two shots beyond the arc during his illustrious college career and made one. The Grizzlies don’t want their lottery pick to feel like he’s restricted to the paint as a pro. He participated a 3-point shooting contest during an open practice on Sunday and showed a good stroke.
“When it’s opportunities to be out on the perimeter, whether it’s trailing the play or he just so happens to kind of move himself out there, I want him to feel like he’s got the green light,” said coach Taylor Jenkins, per Damichael Cole of the Memphis Commercial Appeal. “I don’t want to restrict him by any means. I want to see what he’s capable of.”
We have more from the Southwest Division:
- The Rockets will play two preseason games in three days, facing the Jazz on Monday and Thunder on Wednesday. They’re viewing those contests as a measuring stick to see how much progress they’ve made during training camp, according to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. “I just want to go out, play hard, win, win the preseason games and get good momentum going into the season,” Jalen Green said. “The same way we’re playing here, we have to go out and play there.”
- The Spurs have an Oct. 31 deadline to pick up the contract options on guards Malaki Branham and Blake Wesley for the 2025/26 season. Wesley admits the pressure is on to perform well in training camp and if those options aren’t picked up, they’ll be looking at free agency next offseaason. “Everybody knows it’s a contract year,” he told Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express News. “We’re trying to win, trying to get better. There’s a lot of pressure.”
- After losing starting center Jonas Valanciunas in free agency, the Pelicans didn’t bring in an obvious replacement. New Orleans will employ smaller lineups, mainly with Zion Williamson as the de facto center, quite often this season, Christian Clark of the New Orleans Times Picayune writes. “The fact of the matter is we are going to have a ton of games where we don’t have a traditional center on the floor,” coach Willie Green said. “That’s going to happen. We have to get accustomed to playing that way for a good bulk of the game.”